Tourniquet Divine
by Revu
Summary: Ch. 9 is finally posted! In a world left dominated, hope remained in the form of the only two Saiyans left alive. GohanxTrunks Angst,AUAR,OC,Violence,ShonenAi
1. Disclaimer & Forward

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

_**Lying in the puddle of my own spilt blood,**_

_**Captivated watching my dead dreams pour through these open wounds, **_

_**I catch you salting the remains of my tattered flesh. **_

_**Left in this anesthetizing mystery and wonder,**_

_**All the questions remain unanswered,**_

_**I try to decide if you're tenderly wrenching out my remaining life, **_

_**Or cruelly giving me the tourniquet to keep me alive**_

Disclaimers:

-The author does not own any part of the Dragon Ball series, including but not limited to the characters of the story.

-This story is entirely fictional, based from purely fictional premise, none of the characters, actions characters partake in, many contraptions found here-in did not happen/do not actually exist.

-No money was made from the creation or distribution of this fic.

-No animals/people were hurt in the making of this fic.

-The author does not encourage nor endorse others to partake in actions as described within the story

Warnings:

This story is rated M for the following reasons:

-Senseless violence

-Angst

-Murder/Death

-Shonen-Ai between minors

-Wrongful acts of vandalism/drug use

Notes:

The following story is written completely in AU (Alternate Universe) form, based off of the Dragon Ball Z series and characters.

Primary characters will be Gohan and Trunks

Story will contain Shonen-Ai (Gohan x Trunks)

Synopsis:

Frieza, Tyrant of the Universe, one day decided the Saiyans were too much of a threat toward his empire. In a drastic move he decided to destroy every last one of them by blowing up their home world. Four Saiyans managed to escape the destruction and live a somewhat fruitful life on a far away planet known as Earth. Twenty-five years later, Frieza catches on to the Saiyan refugee's hiding place, and journeys to earth to end the Saiyans once and for all. Although Frieza is initially successful in his plan, he did not realize the Saiyans had already spawned two offspring on earth. Earth is not destroyed, but dominated by alien forces. This is a story of anger, pain, survival, and finding your place in a shattered world.

Welcome to Tourniquet Divine

As always, feel free to contact me at with any comments/suggestions or just to say hi!

Extra Warning: This story is not yet beta read.

On to the story!

Chapter Opening:

This Chapter is intended as a historical follow up to set the scene for the rest of the story. Although not necessary to read, it should help clear questions anyone might have about what's going on and why it's happening in later chapters. So I'd definitely recommend reading it. Remember this story is written entirely in AU, so any confusion you may come across later from skipping this chapter is not my fault!

Chapter 1: Forward

"STUPENDIOUS! OH MY! WHAT A SHOW! HAHAHAHA!" The one known as Frieza laughed hysterically as he watched the planet once known as Vegeta-Sei blown into billions of tiny pieces. Destruction brought by his own hands. Billions died that day, nearly the entire Saiyan race who inhabited Vegeta-Sei perished.

Unknown to Frieza, a Saiyan prophet by the name of Bardock managed to warn several other Saiyans of the planet's impending doom. He had Nappa take the young Prince Vegeta, as well as having his oldest son Raditz take his youngest son Cackarot far away from Vegeta-Sei while he and King Vegeta attempted to stall the tyrant. They knew their efforts of stopping Freiza were futile, but if they could buy even a few more moments for their children to escape then it would be worth it.

In the end both Bardock and Vegeta met their fates that day. Vegeta-Sei was destroyed, and Frieza celebrated this with his best wine. That which Bardock and Vegeta had set out to do though had been successful; Frieza never noticed the four ships leaving the planet moments before his arrival.

The four Saiyan space pods traveled long and far to a remote planet called Earth. It registered in the directory as a low class world that went mostly unnoticed. It was the perfect place to hide from the likes of Frieza.

Due to a malfunction of the space pod during entry of the planet's atmosphere, the youngest son of Bardock was lost to the group of Saiyan refugees for several years. Hoping to remain unnoticed, the Saiyan's initial entry was overlooked by nearly everyone save a profound scientist named Dr. Briefs. President of Capsule Corporation; Dr. Briefs detected a technological anomaly and investigated. He became the first person to come in contact with the Saiyans, which may have been proven, until Dr. Briefs negotiated to allow the Saiyans residence at his Capsule Complex in exchange for getting to study their space pods.

The fourth member of the Saiyan refugees, Cackarot, was discovered by an old man named Gohan. He cared for the boy and named him Goku until one night when the moon was full, Goku transformed into a giant ape like creature and accidentally crushed Grandpa Gohan.

The power Goku emitted in his transformed state was immediately detected by the Saiyan Scouters. They couldn't pursue him immediately for fear of transforming themselves. Once daylight set in, the three hurried to retrieve their youngest affiliate.

With Goku however came a trinket of much interest. It was a semi-transparent orange sphere with four orange stars floating within it. Goku claimed it to be a remnant of his grandfather's, but upon investigation into the ball itself, and ancient myths, they believed it to be an actual Dragon Ball with the power to grant wishes when combined with its counterparts.

Goku and Vegeta then traveled with Dr. Brief's daughter Bulma to find and collect the seven Dragon Balls and have their wish granted. The trio had an amazing set of adventures, and met rather interesting people; most of which Vegeta would have rather blown away but restrained himself for the sake of his companions.

Throughout the years and adventures spent on attempting to gather the Dragon Balls, Vegeta and Bulma soon realized they had growing feelings toward each other. Being the innocent boy he was, Goku was practically oblivious to how much closer his two friends were becoming.

By the end of their journey, Vegeta and Bulma were a definite item, though not without their quarrels, but an item none the less. Though their first attempt to gather the Dragon Balls and have their wish granted was foiled by the interfering Emperor Pilaf, the trio was not as downhearted as was expected of them; especially after Vegeta pounded the living crap out of Pilaf and his two cohorts. Bulma discovered that the Dragon Balls would lie dormant for a year and would once again be ready to grant a wish.

A year was spent relaxing and training. Goku spent time with Vegeta, his brother Raditz, and the old coot Master Roshi to learn what he had to offer as well. Vegeta had rather not to waste his time on the old bastard.

By the time the group set out to find the Dragon Balls again, they were quite improved in both strength on the boys side, and a much better Dragon Radar and search techniques that Bulma had to offer them. After wasting no time in finding the Dragon Balls, Vegeta could think of only one wish to ask the great Dragon before him, to rid the universe of the likes of Frieza who had destroyed his planet and his people. The Dragon however could not grant this wish.

Limited by the power of its creator, and Frieza being beyond its creator's power made the Dragon unable to make any such action against the evil overlord. Infuriated, Vegeta felt like attacking the Dragon itself, though Bulma was able to send the Dragon away before hand by asking for another wish.

Curious as the origins of the Dragon, the three traveled the world more in search of this person. What they found was a tall pole which seemed to stretch infinitely into the sky. It was what the local natives referred to as Korin's Tower. Goku and Vegeta scaled the pole easily and met Korin, Mr. Popo, and the one they'd been searching for, Kami.

Somewhat inhospitable, Kami told them of the Evil King Piccolo who had escaped and was wreaking havoc among the people of earth. Kami only wanted him stopped and recaptured.

Once tracked down the two engaged this King Piccolo who turned out to be rather formidable. He had power far superior to normal humans of earth. After combining their powers, Vegeta and Goku fired a powerful energy beam and destroyed the Evil King.

Upon returning to Korin's Tower they learned they made a terrible mistake. Kami and Piccolo were connected, so to have killed Piccolo, they in turn killed Kami, and thus destroyed the Dragon Balls. Vegeta only scowled while Goku felt sincerely bad.

The Saiyans continued to train, though it quickly became obvious the younger two were more powerful than the older two. Vegeta began to worry as Goku entered his early teens and was quickly catching up to his level of power.

By now Bulma and Vegeta's relationship was beginning to blossom into something that could almost resemble love. The intimacy was there anyway. And a young girl the three had met during their travels, a fiery spirit by the name of Chichi didn't seem to want to leave Goku alone.

After another three years Bulma informed everyone she was pregnant with Vegeta's baby. Once Vegeta was revived from the shock of the news, everyone congratulated him. There was a big celebration at Capsule Corp that a new Saiyan prince would be born. During the party Chichi even announced she and Goku were going to be married.

Life was good and a little over two years later Chichi was pregnant with Goku's baby. Chichi tried to be protective of her son Gohan, but Vegeta insisted with Goku that the boy not be pampered his entire life, after all he was half Saiyan.

Unfortunately for them it was a mere four years of this happy time before a dark shadow fell upon the earth.

A space pod fell to earth, and a scout of Frieza's emerged. Purple skinned and ears situated closer to the top of its head, the alien saw the earth as a suitable for conquest and sale. The alien flew through the sky and began making initial preparations by destroying key places and cities.

Nappa was the first to see the invader, and immediately attempted to dispatch the smaller purple creature. Though Nappa had a wild power of his own, the alien soon proved to be more formidable than Nappa expected.

Sensing his friend losing a fight, Vegeta hurried to East City. He arrived in time before Nappa was too severely hurt, and quickly put an end to the alien threat. Once downed, Vegeta stared at the alien for a brief moment before crushing its face in with his boot.

Far across the galaxy, minions of Frieza were monitoring a scouter transmission they were receiving. They watched as a large being fought with Kooie, and was almost defeated when a smaller one came in and almost immediately wiped Kooie out.

An order came from behind in a gruff voice to replay that scene. The minions jumped in recognition of Frieza's voice and replayed the entire fight over. Frieza's expression was a scrutinizing one as he watched the larger one fight, as if trying to place where he had seen that man before. Then the smaller one joined in the fight and wiped out his warrior. Frieza's eyes widened in realization as he mouthed "Vegeta" and stormed from the room.

Hundreds of Frieza's men were immediately dispatched for Earth; their mission, to wipe out the last of the Saiyans.

Within weeks Vegeta felt the approach of the mass of warriors. The four Saiyans gathered quickly to discuss their options. It was decided amongst them that they would defend their new home and their new families.

The four awaited the arrival of Frieza's minions as close to where they assumed the landing would be as they could. As the hundreds of space pods fell through the earth's atmosphere, Vegeta spared no time in jumping into the fray of the falling ships and blasting at them before they even hit the ground.

As the ships were making their way past Vegeta's attempts at blocking them, the fight intensified. Hundreds of alien warriors rushed the group of four Saiyans, yet they fought tirelessly into the hours of waged combat.

There seemed to be no end in sight to the conflict, the Saiyans were unexpectedly powerful, but the aliens were incredible in number. Then the shadow of death itself overtook them as Frieza's very own flagship flew overhead and made its landing close by. The crowd of aliens seemed to part as Frieza made his steps from the ship to the earth. Frieza challenged the Saiyans personally.

The crowd of spectators was surprised that defeating the four Saiyans seemed to be no easy task even for Lord Frieza. Vegeta and Goku both got several good shots into Frieza while Nappa and Raditz distracted him and managed to hold their own.

Then Frieza admitted he was holding back his true power to everyone. In a transformation that seemed to rattle the earth below his feet, Frieza began to grow several sizes. The very atmosphere above Frieza seemed to give way to his power, opening a hole into the depths of space. Finally, Frieza's body seemed to shatter. Once the smoke vanished, in the place where Frieza once was now stood the most powerful being anyone had ever before witnessed. The Saiyans could feel his new power, and it was absolutely overwhelming.

Frieza's first movement after completing his transformation was to lift his finger, and with but the word "bang" a beam of energy was emitted that completely destroyed Nappa before anyone could even react.

The remaining three Saiyans broke from their state of reverie and lunged at the Lord of Evil. Upon entering combat with Frieza an elbow to the ribs nearly shattered all of the bones in Raditz's body. A fast backhand to the face knocked Goku out almost immediately. Finally Frieza decided to toy with Vegeta a while longer.

Frieza started by choking the Saiyan Prince, slowly wrenching the life from him. Then he moved on to assaulting Vegeta with attacks too weak to kill Vegeta or to cause him to pass out, but just enough to cause the most pain possible. Frieza held the bleeding body high up for all of his minions to see. Goku woke up in time to see Vegeta's body flung to the side, still coughing out blood.

Goku climbed to his feet and stared down Frieza. Frieza decided to tempt the last able Saiyan by crushing flat the skull of his brother Raditz as he approached. Goku's vision went blurry as he witnessed the horrible pain and atrocity Frieza brought with him. Goku clasped his hands at his sides and forced all of his energy into the attack he learned from Master Roshi, the Kamehameha wave.

Goku fired the beam off and Frieza countered with his own. Frieza expected his blast to tear straight through the Saiyans, but to his surprise the blasts met with nearly equal force. Goku screamed as he pushed with all his might, and actually forced Frieza to take a step back. Frieza grunted not expecting to have to put this much force into a power struggle against a low class Saiyan.

Vegeta stared in awe from where he was crippled on the ground as Goku put everything he had into the blast against Frieza. After several moments of power struggling, it even appeared Goku's blast was pushing Frieza's back.

Frieza let out a grunt of frustration and anger as his muscles bulged, he screamed his fury as his blast intensified many times over and ate through Goku's. Goku watched as the beam came back faster than he could hope to react. In the final moment before the blast impacted him, Goku thought he saw a vision, one that made him smile softly before Frieza's energy ripped through his body, disintegrating his limbs, and then he was gone.

Vegeta stared in shock at where his friend once stood. For the first time, tears rolled freely from his eyes. Vegeta clenched his fist, unbelieving that all their efforts were for nothing. Frieza's tail slowly coiled around Vegeta's throat and he was lifted into the air. As he was brought to face Frieza, he stared into Frieza's eyes with all his hatred and spite. Frieza only smirked. In his own mind, Vegeta apologized to his son and wife. The crowd of aliens watched as Frieza's tail snapped Vegeta's neck, and his body fell limply to the ground.

Earth was conquered shortly after. The human defense paled in comparison to the invading alien's power. The weapons humans used seemed to damage the planet more than the alien invaders. In the end they managed to anger the invading armies for their nuclear technologies exploding across the planet managed to lower the planet's value on the galactic market.

After an amazingly short three days, earth's entire government structure was conquered. Banner's of Frieza were lifted all across the planet. An alien martial law was emplaced across the globe, and though the planet's value fell below the living conditions desired by planet brokers, it was found earth contained minerals of suitable worth deep below the surface. Humans were used as practically free labor to mine the earth almost immediately.

Realizing her child was in danger for merely being half Saiyan, Chichi decided to try and hide herself and her four year old son the best way she knew how, right under the noses of those who would wish to discover them. Quickly realizing rural living would attract the attention of those who desired to control the populace, Chichi fled to the closest largest city she could, and took residence in a living complex. She quickly taught Gohan how to hide his tail by wrapping it around his waist under his clothes like his father would. Chichi even worked as a refreshment distributor for the miners during the day.

As the years passed by, it was obvious the living conditions were deteriorating. The buildings were ill maintained if they received any maintenance at all. The entire human part of the city was quickly becoming a slum. Several small crime organizations and gangs began to form under the nose of the martial low enforcers. There was looting, vandalism, petty theft and murder. As long as it didn't happen to any kind of alien though, law enforcement didn't seem to care.

It was five years after moving into the city that a new heart disease seemed to be running rampant throughout the slums of the city renamed to Cold Capitol. It was soon after that Chichi realized she too had been infected by the disease, most likely from working in the damp sulfuric mid sections of the deep mines. Realizing she would soon pass away, she told Gohan to be strong, and to live for her. Chichi died after experiencing horrible pain soon after.

At age eleven, Gohan ran from his home, tears streaking his face, as he ran as fast and far as he could from the small apartment with the body of his mother still inside. Gohan didn't stop until he found himself in a narrow dark alleyway. There he curled up against a wall and sat in silence for what had to have been many hours.

A loud noise had finally jerked Gohan from his reverie as someone came running through the alleyway and bumped into a metal bucket. Gohan immediately made out the sounds of light running foot steps, and several heavier footsteps giving chase. Gohan watched from behind a crate as a human boy almost the same age as himself ran towards the back end of the alley. Three larger humans in strange grey coats gave chase.

Gohan followed out of curiosity as the three men cornered the boy against a dead end. The three men each pulled out a gun and pointed them at the boy, declaring that now his kind would learn not to take what wasn't theirs from the Docks. Before any of them could pull the trigger, the man on the left was violently spun around and kicked into the other two. All three were knocked out on the cold gravel of the alleyway.

The boy with blue hair slowly approached and looked over his fallen chasers. After his thanks he invited Gohan to come with him back to his group who he said were all teens like him just trying to survive. Gohan accepted and a new friendship was born between himself and the street gang called The Rogues.

End Chapter


	2. Don't Stay

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

Welcome to the second installment of Tourniquet Divine. So now we know that Goku, Vegeta, Raditz and Napa are all dead, killed on earth at the hands of Frieza, and Chichi died later as a result of a terrible disease. So after going through all this crap at such a young age, what's going to happen to Gohan now?

Chapter 2: Don't Stay

3 Years Later…

Gohan, Haru, and Rowdy ran through the dark alleyways of the city. Far behind them the frustrated grunts of chasers who could not keep up could be heard. The three boys looked at each other and laughed as they made away with several bags of supplies. Enough to last everyone back home several days if they were lucky.

They stopped to hide until they were sure their pursuers gave up. Haru gave the all clear sign after about ten minutes passed. "Who would have thought the Moratzos would have such a big stash? They could feed the city with all that they got and now they're pissed at us for taking six bags, ha!"

"Makes sense," Rowdy nodded, "Every Moratzo I've ever met is a stingy galoot who didn't want to spend half a penny more on something if it wasn't worth it."

"Well we showed them it doesn't pay to be greedy!" Gohan smirked.

The three checked to make sure no one was following or watching them one more time before slipping into another alleyway. There was a staircase that led down to a basement door. Haru knocked twice, paused, knocked five times, paused, and knocked once more. The door opened and the three greeted the door guard as they brought their supplies in.

Inside were a few more steps down, and then it opened into a huge room that resembled something of a warehouse. There was a smelly haze over the room, and a light music playing in the background. The room was large, but there were dozens of people in it, mostly sprawled out on cots and sleeping bags set up along the greater part of the floor area. No one in the room looked to be older than early-twenties.

The three boys took their goods to a somewhat of a gathering place in the center of the room where there was a table stand, and several seats. "We bring food!" Haru announced. Many heads perked up as they got up to investigate and huddle around the three, "Enough rice and grain for at least the next three days!" The crowd lightly cheered.

The three who brought the food took their bowls first and went to go sit as everyone was helped to their servings. Haru finished his plates and slid them back over to the stack by the food servers. He flashed them a smile as they glared at him before he lit up a cigarette. He offered one to Gohan and Rowdy who took one appreciatively.

Gohan remembered when he first joined the Rogues how awful he thought it smelled down here, the overcrowded musky room with a constant cloud of smoked up lung hanging just under the dim lights. Now though, it was just a way to forget about the crappy outside world, or the crappy past…

An older boy took a seat next to Haru, "Pretty good work you guys." He was smoking one of those "special" cigarettes.

"Thanks Kouji," Haru exhaled as he waited for Kouji's next statement. Kouji never came by to _just_ congratulate them. After all, Gohan, Rowdy and himself were the _elite_ of their group, they had the best success record of any other team in the Rouges.

"You know," Kouji started, "The boys were talking, and seeing how we're as settled in as we're gonna need to be for the next week or so, we came up with the ultimate challenge! The break that could push you guys from the best to legendary!"

Haru shook his head, this was going to be interesting. Kouji and them always got weird ideas when they were high. "So you gonna tell us?"

Kouji laughed a little high pitched, "Damn… OK check this out. What if you guys were to break into that Cold development plant! Steal some cool shit from them and bring it back!" Kouji broke into another fit of laughter.

"You mean the Capsule Corp?" Rowdy stared at Kouji wide eyed as Kouji was still laughing. "Dude that's an official area! The Cold guards would slaughter our asses if they found us!" This only caused Kouji to laugh harder.

Haru was about to protest for Rowdy's sake when Gohan spoke up, "I say we do it!" He finished his cigarette and put it out under his boot. The local gangs were becoming almost too easy for him. Something inside him craved the challenge.

Kouji laughed some more before leaving, "Good luck you guys, we'll be waiting to see some cool shit!"

After he left Rowdy stared at Gohan confused, "Do you really think we can pull this off?"

Gohan smirked and nodded, "We've proved we can outsmart just about everyone else, I don't see why not."

"The biggest problem is if we get caught… we'd have no chance in hell of outrunning those guys… I've seen those guards in action, they are _fast_!" Haru thought out loud.

Gohan shook off some of the thirst that had plagued him to accept earlier, "So you really think doing this would be a bad idea?"

"I didn't say that…" Haru announced, "We just better not get caught." Haru got up and lead the other two over to a table by his cot. He casually tossed everything from the small table onto the floor and took out a large sheet of paper and a pencil. "OK, First thing we need to do is gather info, best thing to do is probably take the Dome Train to West City. We'll spend a day scoping the place out, figure out when guards shift, how long guard shifts are and so on." Haru was a good planner, he drew out the basic idea first and left room for all the variables they would come across. "I'm sure they have to have pretty high tech security come on at night in the labs, so we'll have to get in between the time people leave and the security comes on. That doesn't leave us with a lot of time… and we have our identities to worry about too you know…"

The others looked at him confused, "What do you mean Haru?"

"Well think about it. Whenever we steal from other gangs, they know it's us, but there's still nothing they can really do about it. On the streets we take pride in acclaiming what gangs we've beaten. But this is different. If we steal from the Cold armies, and they pin it on us… They'll hunt us down wherever we go. But! If we make it seem like industrial espionage from one of their rival developers, they'll never know where to look…"

"Wow! That's a good idea Haru!" Rowdy stared at Haru's schematic for a moment, "And how do we do that?"

Haru chuckled, "We pull out all the stops, wear your clean gloves and boots, We don't want to leave anything that could even link back to this city! The other thing we have to do is be careful to steal something only kinda important. If we take something worthless they'll know it's petty theft, but if we take something too valuable they may even shut the dome train down and we'll never make it back home."

"So pretty much we make this a three day event," Gohan punched a fist into the palm of his other hand.

"We hitch a ride tomorrow then, agreed?" The other two nodded to Haru's question. "Alright then, we should take a train as early as possible to avoid suspicion right off the bat. It's the shady characters who ride the later trains." Haru grinned.

The three went to bed almost immediately after, even though they were hardly able to sleep. Haru's alarm went off five hours later and he dragged Gohan and Rowdy out of their cots. "Come on you guys, you can sleep on the train if you're that tired!" A couple people around them groaned for being woken up so early. The place was never as calm as it was at five in the morning.

The three boys waved through the door guard and left the Rogue's shelter. It was nearly five thirty when they joined the line for the six o'clock dome train. The Dome Train was like any other electric train, except its entire track was enclosed in an airtight dome like structure that allowed the train to pass cargo and passengers through inhospitable areas of the planet still radiated from the war ten years ago. Fortunately travel by dome train was free, but usually very crowded.

As soon as they boarded the train, Rowdy climbed onto an open seat, pulled his hat over his eyes and dozed back to sleep. Haru and Gohan stared silently out the window as the train drove on. The land just miles outside the city was so barren, but there were twigs of what trees used to be there. It made Gohan wonder what this place used to look like before all this. He quickly changed his train of thought as he realized there was no smoking on the train so that wouldn't be an option to pull himself out of a self imposed funk.

The ride between Cold Capitol and Old West City was a good five hours. Rowdy didn't wake up till about another three hours into the trip. The train pulled in to the station on time, and the three boys blended into the departing crowd as best they could.

Haru already had a map of where the Capsule Corp was. The three leisurely walked in that direction to get their first glimpse of the building. A huge plot of land, surrounded by a tall wall… The building was a dull yellow, and had several large domed areas connected to it.

"Let's see what else is in the area…" Haru lead the team off past Capsule Corp. The complex itself looked as if it used to be right in the middle of town, but a lot had happened over the last several years. Most of the surrounding buildings were all boarded up and abandoned… which suited them perfectly. They found the tallest nearby building, snuck around behind it, scaled the side, and broke into the attic area.

Rowdy immediately coughed from the dust they kicked up. "Get over it, this is home for the next few days," Haru kicked a shutter out of place to get a better look at Capsule Corp.

Rowdy hacked, "I'd say this place hasn't been home for at least three years!" he pinched his nose and waved his hand as he examined the covered stored goods. There was some old furniture, plenty of boxes of junk, all covered by several layers of a fine white dirt.

Haru had already cleared some table space and was taking notes of the building layout across the street. Gohan finally yawned realizing he hadn't slept much the night before, and stole one of Haru's cigarettes as he helped him watch for anything interesting from their target.

Rowdy popped up from behind them looking through the space in the shutters with a huge pair of binoculars. Haru stared at him, "Where'd you get those?"

Rowdy looked up at him, "From one of those boxes, pretty cool huh? There's a lot of cool stuff left up here!" The other two took a look behind them and noticed the mess Rowdy had already made going through the left over junk.

"Gimme that!" Haru said as he swiped the binoculars from Rowdy and looked through as well.

"Fine! Don't say please!" Rowdy said as he used his pickpocket skills to snatch Haru's cigarettes and lighter.

Haru's face twitched in frustration, but he didn't say anything. "Lot of people down there right now... Guards all look real stiff… and those scientist guys… a lot of those short ugly green warty frog lookin ones. I'll keep watchin from here. Gohan, when it gets darker, I want you to scout the wall and see if you can find the easiest way into the grounds. Rowdy, in the meantime, go hit up some local markets and bring back some food."

Rowdy groaned as he walked toward their exit, "Give me the shitty jobs, right…"

"You got fast hands, now get going!" Haru ordered.

Gohan chuckled at his friend's antics as he puffed on his cigarette. He couldn't help but keep staring at the Capsule Corp building across the distance. There was something ominous about the whole thing to him… a creepy feeling that kept twinging up his spine.

Gohan felt things every now and then… But really couldn't place this with any of his normal feelings. Like he had kind of a danger sense that would start somewhere in the pit of his stomach and work its way into pulling at his mind in the direction of trouble. But this was different, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

"You OK Gohan?" Haru asked without putting the binoculars down.

Gohan exhaled deeply, "Yeah."

"You're being unusually quiet, and I mean quieter than normal, what's going on? You're not having any doubts about this are you? Cause it's not like it'd be a tragedy to turn back now."

"No, it's cool," Gohan found something to put his cigarette out in, "I'm just thinking is all."

"Try not to think too hard Gohan, you tend to get all funky whenever you do that."

"Sorry, can't help it sometimes." Gohan wished he knew what was up himself. A part of him was actually calm, but another part was craving to finish and go home.

"Do you feel anything weird?" Haru had long since learned to trust the sixth sense Gohan had when it came to picking up danger.

"Not really… Well… nothing I can't see down there with my eyes… but…"

Haru put the binoculars down and looked over to Gohan, "But what?"

"I just feel like… familiar… but I can't recognize it… comfortable, but not at ease… My head just feels weird," Gohan rubbed his temple trying to sort out his senses.

"I want you to be extra careful Gohan, this isn't worth anyone getting hurt over, so if you see anything unusual going on, just give the word and we'll pull out."

Gohan nodded and they continued their watch.

Once the sun was setting Gohan climbed down from the building and began his search around the complex for an easy wall to scale. The wall looked amazingly smooth all the way across, almost impossible to climb. After nearly an hour of snooping around the bushes and examining wall height at different intervals, Gohan found the edge he was looking for. It was nearly hidden behind a tall shrub, but Gohan's eyes made it out. There was an indent in the wall almost at eyelevel. Gohan felt it, it seemed wide enough to jam his foot in for a little leverage. Gohan decided to give it a try and jumped at it, kicking up at it and pushing himself up to the top of the he was able to grab onto and slowly pull his head over the top.

Gohan noticed this side of the complex was dark at this time of night, practically no artificial light at all. What was more is he spotted a stack of empty wooden crates just a few meters away from where he was; the kind which could be easily stacked to make for their escape route back up the wall from the inside.

Gohan made a quick mental note of his position before dropping back into the shrubs below and snaking away from the building. On his way back, Gohan encountered their next problem, this area seemed to have strict martial law enforcers. Several hover tanks floated up and down the street. Gohan had to wait for nearly another hour before things cleared up enough for him to sneak back across to where he and the others were staying.

Gohan quickly climbed back up to tell his friends of his discovery. Haru was still keeping watch over the Capsule Corp complex, while Rowdy sat in the corner eating a few of the fruits he'd brought back. Gohan pulled an apple out of Rowdy's sack and sat by Haru, "I think I found something that will work."

"Good," Haru still didn't look away from whatever had his attention, "Where is it?"

"Eastern side of the complex, there's a dent in the wall that gives enough leverage to kick off of and grab the top of the wall. And it's actually not to far from a dump site for their empty crates which we could use to get out." Gohan reported.

"Great, that should work nicely then," Haru put the binoculars down to pick up his pencil and write more on his notes.

Gohan looked them over and was surprised as to how much detail Haru was putting into this one, "OK Gohan, can you point out where it is you found a way in?"

Gohan pointed a spot on Haru's map, "There, and right there is the crate dump. There's hardly any light there either, while I was there you could hardly see anything in the yard at that end."

Haru chuckled, "This is falling into place almost too well, eh guys?" Rowdy almost choked on a seed until he hit his chest a few times and forced his throat to swallow it.

"Don't jinx us, _please_ Haru!" Rowdy said after he cleared his throat.

Haru winked at him, "Nah, from the looks of things, you'd practically expect them to think that people are gonna be too scared to try what we're doing. Cause if this is an example of their daily rituals and habits here, we should be able to plan around it fairly easily."

"Well as long as you're confident I guess," Rowdy shrugged and finished a few more bits of food.

Gohan couldn't help but continue to stare at the building. He could nearly swear he felt something coming from it, but at the same time he couldn't sense anything from it… It was really confusing to him.

The next day went fairly similar. Haru finally slept after monitoring the building nearly the entire day before. The other two knew that he'd be at it all over again once he woke up later. Rowdy managed to get his hands on a few more supplies that morning and tore through a few boxes to find enough to have a suitable breakfast.

Once they were done eating, Gohan decided to grab the binoculars and have a look at the window. The hair on the back of his neck immediately stood on edge as he looked through a window in the Capsule Corp building. It was only for a brief moment, and Gohan wasn't even sure if he really saw it… But he could have sworn he saw someone's shadow. The only thing was the shadow was of a human like person with a tail, a tail like his own which he still kept well hidden around his waist.

Gohan rubbed his eyes and tried looking through the window again. He stared harder but didn't see anything else. It was several minutes later when he was poked in the ribs and he actually jumped with a start, "What perked your interest?" Haru asked rubbing some sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing!" Gohan stuttered almost immediately, and regretted it for sounding so obvious.

"This is serious Gohan, what did you see?" Haru asked about to take the binoculars from him.

Gohan sighed as he looked out the window again, "I thought… I thought I saw someone in one of the windows over there…"

"Aaaaand?" Haru pushed.

"It looked for a second like the person had a tail…" Gohan passed the binoculars back to Haru.

"Yeah… some aliens have tails you know." Rowdy chirped in.

Gohan shook his head, "No, it was a certain kind of tail… but you're probably right… never mind about it."

"A certain kind of tail?" Rowdy looked over to Haru and shrugged, "What's the difference between one tail or another?"

"Nothing…" Gohan muttered and sat in the corner.

Hours passed by, and Haru seemed to almost be done with his notes. As the sun was setting Haru startled everyone with his sudden light shout, "Now!" Gohan and Rowdy looked at him funny, "Yes… yes… yes…" He kept watching through those binoculars. "Just like yesterday, it's habit forming alright!" After another few minutes he turned back to his friends, "This is the time we move, tomorrow."

Haru slid the table with his notes over between the three of them. "OK, at precisely seventeen minutes ago tomorrow, we will be waiting at the wall here that has the notch in the wall Gohan found to climb up." Haru pointed to the spot on his schematic, "We will climb up, and as soon as we're on the other side, Rowdy it will be your duty to grab some boxes to stack quickly to make our escape. Remember to work as fast but as quiet as possible. Once inside the complex, our easiest way in is probably going to be the window to the main building here on the eastern side," Haru pointed to that on his drawing also. "Gohan, you're in charge of breaking the window with as little force as possible. As long as we don't draw any attention we should have nearly twenty minutes before the sensors come on. That should be plenty of time to get in, grab something, and get back out. Rowdy, once you're done with boxing our escape route, you need to stand by at the window entrance, try removing excess glass from the window frame, especially from the bottom in case we need to use it as leverage to climb back out. You'll also keep watch for any guards walking around the outside to make sure we don't give ourselves away in running back to the fence." Haru looked over his work, "That should just about do it, don't you think?"

"Sure…" Rowdy looked at the plan dizzily.

"We don't want to grab anything too important, so that shouldn't take too long to find and drag back out," Gohan pointed out, "It should be just the time we need…"

"With a little luck, should be," Haru rolled his papers back up. "Just be ready for it tomorrow."

The others nodded and soon went to bed.

The more Gohan thought about it the more eerie the whole thing was to him. The strange feelings his senses were picking up on just looking at that building, and then he kept replaying the image of the silhouette he saw through the window. He felt like he was going crazy since he wasn't even sure if he saw it, yet it was haunting him so much. His own tail twitched. Was it the rounded tip that seemed to make it look so much like his own… It was only a shadow so how could he be sure it was a tail like his if it was a tail at all? Gohan shook it off as paranoia, he'd never seen _anyone_ with a tail like his before. But then he always hid his… so who was to say there weren't other people like him who hid their tails from sight also. Always one of those questions that plagued his mind, why was he special? Why did he have a tail when no one else did. He always had to be so careful when bathing that no one saw him or they'd see his tail. But at the same time, he'd seen enough people to realize having a tail was far from common. He tried shaking his head of the images that were keeping him from sleep, but it was hard sometimes.

Gohan also realized his tail was more like a mere symbol of his many differences from his friends. His mother had shown him long ago he was stronger and faster than most humans could ever hope to be, and he had to hide that as well. And of course he could sense things, like when alien guards were around. That little trick of his had saved he and his friends on more than one occasion. Haru at first called it Gohan's "Spider Sense" since Gohan always seemed to be able to tell when danger was near, but even Haru had noticed there was more to it than that by now.

Rowdy and Haru were probably the only two people Gohan had even considered sharing some of his secrets with. They were after all the ones he got him into The Rogues in the first place. Rowdy used to have a big brother who was kind of a mentor to Haru, but he was gunned down by a rival gang about two years before Gohan joined. Haru being a year older than Rowdy took it upon himself to try and look after him in his brother's place. Rowdy's nickname suits him though, and he gets into a lot of trouble. He would have been dead that one day three years ago after getting caught stealing from the docks. Gohan had been the one to save him then. To show their gratitude both Rowdy and Haru pulled what strings they could to get Gohan initiated into The Rogues. Gohan was so grateful for it too. He knew for sure he would have starved to death by now if it wasn't for them. The Rogues taught him how to survive on the streets.

Gohan sighed as his busy mind once again was keeping him from sleep. He tended to have a hard time calming his mind down enough to actually fall asleep anytime before three in the morning. Eventually Gohan drifted to sleep once he ran out of things to think about. Although asleep, the dreams Gohan wouldn't even remember in the morning kept him tossing and turning.

The next day Haru started going over the plan again right after breakfast making sure he clarified any questions the other two might have. He also came up with a few backup plans for the "just in case" scenarios.

As the sun was setting, all three of the boys were huddled in the bushes beside the Capsule Corp wall. "Get ready…" Haru whispered.

The other two nodded, and Gohan got ready to jump first. Haru counted down the remaining time on his fingers, "Go!" he said and Gohan jumped the wall in a quick fluid motion, followed by Haru and Rowdy.

Haru followed Gohan to the building while Rowdy started setting up boxes by the wall. Gohan ran to quietly ran to the window Haru had pointed out. Once Haru caught up, Gohan elbowed the glass. Instead of breaking though, Gohan's arm seemed to bounce off.

Gohan stared at Haru wide eyed as Haru only shrugged. Gohan jumped back and spun kicked the window in this time. The window still didn't shatter, rather the entire pane of glass flew off the frame and bounced inside the building. Gohan shrugged that time and jumped inside.

The drop from the window was a good six or seven feet. Gohan and Haru landed inside, and immediately began their quick search. As they looked around the two quickly noticed there were more rooms and offices around this area than actual lab space.

As they ran through, something sparkled and caught Gohan's eye. He waved Haru over and they both looked over at a strange looking receiver dish. The two looked over the item; it was some kind of communications receiver. Haru felt around the thing and pressed a switch on the side. The entire device began to glow and give off a strange hum. Once the light faded, in the place of the device was a small capsule with a switch at the end. Gohan pocketed it as he smirked to Haru and they ran out of the room.

The two were running back through the hall when a door in front of them opened. Startled the two skid to a halt, looking for anything they could hide behind to not get caught. Before they could find anything to hide behind, Rowdy walked out of the room while stuffing something into his own pockets. He looked over at his two friends surprised to see them on the floor glaring evilly at him.

The three were running back to their exit point when Gohan got that strange feeling again. First it was like a flash, then more of a ping to his senses. Gohan completely stopped and looked around.

"Gohan! Let's go!" Haru whispered.

Gohan nodded and they continued running. They were running through the last big room before the hall with their exit point when Gohan felt another strong ping. The world around Gohan seemed to slow down as a silhouette set itself in the doorway in front of them.

"STOP!" it yelled.

Gohan pushed his two friends out of the way as he ran past them with a sudden burst of speed and tackled the body in front of them down. Whoever it was didn't seem to be expecting that and was taken down easily.

Haru and Rowdy ran out of the room and were retreating back to the exit. As Gohan rolled off of the person he'd tackled, a hand grabbed his ankle. Haru looked back and saw Gohan practically captured and his eyes widened.

Gohan pulled the Capsule out of his pocket and threw it to Haru, "Get out of here!" Gohan yelled as Haru caught it.

Rowdy stopped a little ways ahead and looked back as Haru clenched the capsule tight and ran off, grabbing Rowdy in the dash and practically tossing him back out the window.

Haru and Rowdy made good use of their escape tactic and scaled the wall with ease, and jumped out of the complex. "What about Gohan?!" Rowdy cried.

"Gohan knows how to take care of himself, just don't look back!" Haru ordered as the two kept running. Haru just prayed he was right.

Gohan twisted his foot out of the grasp he was in and jumped away. His attacker was on his feet faster than he thought he would be though and grabbed Gohan by the arm and tossed him back into the larger room. Gohan slid to a stop as the other one came in and pressed the control to lock the room down. Large doors sealed them in almost instantly, "Now it's just you and me…" Gohan looked the other boy up and down, a couple years older than he was, maybe sixteen, seventeen… Human in appearance with purple hair and loose style fighting clothes.

Gohan dropped into a fighting stance as the boy charged him. The boy disappear from Gohan's sight range and a fist seemed to just materialize into his stomach sending him flying toward the wall. It was in that instance Gohan realized this was what he was just barely sensing the last couple days. He could sense it perfectly now, a power different from just about anything he'd ever felt before.

The boy disappeared from Gohan's sight again, but this time as a fist flew towards Gohan's head, Gohan's own hand came up and caught the blow. This was no time to be holding back. Gohan flipped himself up by the grip he had on the other boy's hand and spin kicked him to the side of head, sending his body crashing into the wall.

"Not bad…" The boy said getting back up. This time Gohan disappeared from sight and punched the boy in the stomach. Although Gohan thought he got a real good hit in, the other boy seemed to recover in an amazingly short time and placed both his open palms against Gohan's Torso. A light emitted from his hands and then with a sudden burst, pain ripped through Gohan as he was flung the other way.

Gohan stopped himself in time to catch the boy's next attack and throw a few punches back. The boy dodged his first three, but Gohan's fourth punch landed square in the ribs and the boy slid back a few feet.

In the next instant both boys disappeared from sight, and their impact with each other vibrated the walls violently, and everything inside the room was pushed away from them by the force of the evacuating air.

The two punched, and kicked, and met each other with great force at remarkable speeds. The older boy sped behind Gohan and caught him in a choke lock. Gohan pulled forward as hard as he could but the other boy wouldn't let go. With the muscle tightness Gohan built up pulling forward, he slammed his head back into the other boys face. The arms holding him still immediately let go and Gohan kicked the boy away.

The boy landed on a pile of debris that consisted items which used to be set up in the room they were fighting in. Gohan stopped dead in his tracks as the boy got up from where he was thrown and a purple tail slowly uncoiled from around his waist.

"He's the one… with a tail too…" Gohan whispered to himself.

The boy hurdled himself back to Gohan, and with his fists clasped into each other he pounded Gohan into the floor. The ground cracked as Gohan made impact. Gohan was a little shaky pulling himself up from that attack when he was kicked from his imprint on the ground and launched into the nearest wall. Gohan slowly slid to the ground as a light from the boy caught his attention. The boy threw more of that energy at him.

Gohan yelled as he was hit. Several other blasts followed. The energy was hot and intense. Gohan tried to block his face with his arms, and the energy burned the clothes off of where it hit. After several more blasts, his entire upper torso was exposed and taking the full force of the attack. When it finally stopped Gohan sank to his knees, his breathing labored. His concentration in keeping his tail secure was lost to him, and his tail uncurled itself from around his waist as well.

The other boy stopped his attack for a moment. He seemed to be staring intently at Gohan's black tail. Gohan slowly pushed himself back up to his feet, still breathing hard. The older boy seemed unsure of what was going on suddenly. Gohan decided to use the break to his advantage.

Gohan's hands clasped to his side as his knees bent. It'd been a _long_ time since he did this, he just hoped he still remembered how it worked. "KA-ME" Gohan said through gritted teeth as a ball of energy formed in his hands.

The other boy noticed what Gohan was doing and moved to a stance with his hands clasped nearly behind his back. A deep purple energy gathered in his fists.

One of the entrances to the room started beeping and the door opened, "What's going on in here?!" a female voice demanded.

"HA-ME!" Gohan powered up the attack, not caring about the interruption.

"Goku…" the same female voice spoke barely audible over the sounds of the energy in the room crackling.

Gohan stopped and looked over at the woman who had just barged in the room speaking his father's name. She looked to be in her mid to late thirties, and had short blue hair.

"Mom, watch out!" Gohan looked back over to the boy he was fighting and was tackled to the ground. He completely lost the power he was gathering for his attack and felt badly drained from it. The boy pinned Gohan's arms tight behind his back, and though Gohan struggled as hard as he could, he didn't have the strength to break free from the grip.

"LET ME GO!" Gohan screamed.

"Who are you, and who are you with?!" the boy on top of him demanded.

The woman with blue hair approached them and kneeled down in front of Gohan. She looked at Gohan's face, and into his eyes. Those black pools were so familiar to her, "It can't be… Gohan?"

The boy on top of him looked over at the woman as she mentioned that name. "Mother?"

"It is! It's Gohan! I'd recognize Goku's son anywhere!" The woman stared at Gohan in awe.

Gohan's eyes widened, "How… how do you know who my father is?"

The woman smiled, "Let him go Trunks." Trunks let go of Gohan's arms and got off of him. "I can hardly believe it… Once I lost touch with Chichi… I didn't even think the two of you were alive," tears welled up in the woman's eyes, "The house in the mountains was destroyed, and there was no sign of either of you."

Gohan could almost remember… a place in the mountains… his mother was there, and life was good. "The last time I saw you… you were only four years old Gohan, no wonder you don't remember…" Bulma smiled as another tear rolled down her face.

"Trunks, we need to move him before anyone comes to investigate!" the woman practically ordered. "Get him to the treatment center in the basement, and get the guys up here, I want this break in to look like industrial espionage!"

"Right!" Trunks nodded. He grabbed Gohan's arm and pulled it around his shoulder before putting his other arm around Gohan's waist and hoisting him up. Gohan hissed a little as his skin was still a little burnt and really sensitive. "You'll be OK," Trunks smiled.

Gohan couldn't help but be completely confused now, but as he had no energy left to resist, he didn't. Something about them really did strike a chord somewhere in his memory. As he was limped away his mind began to click on a few things. Could this be why he took the challenge in the first place? Did Capsule Corp ring a bell with him somewhere in his subconscious? Before he could piece things together any better in his head, he practically passed out in Trunks arms.

End Chapter


	3. Somewhere I Belong

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

None for today, just another free chapter, please R&R though! Thanks!

Chapter 3: Somewhere I Belong

Trunks dragged Gohan through the building until they reached a wall. Trunks flipped open a hidden control panel and entered a few commands on the keypad. The wall opened up in front of them revealing a corridor with even flashier gadgets than what was on the outside.

In his weakened state, Gohan wasn't sure how much farther they seemed to move. He was only aware that they were going down long sloped walkways. He figured they had to be really deep below the ground. "Here we are," Trunks hit a button to open one more door and before them was a room with five large pods.

"Oh my!" a small blue man in a white coat spoke upon seeing the two enter his infirmary. "What do you have there Master Trunks?"

Trunks shook his head, "An old friend."

The being nodded and helped Trunks prep Gohan to be entered into a rejuvenation tank.

"What's… that…" Gohan pointed to the tank.

"Don't worry Gohan, we're going to put you in the tank and it will fill with synthetic DNA. It will heal you very quickly." Trunks grinned. Gohan looked confused but didn't say anything else.

The two sat Gohan inside and strapped the breathing mask to his face. "These kind of burn marks aren't caused by blasters… You were the one who caused this weren't you Trunks?" The doctor smirked at the older teen.

"Well… Yeah…" Trunks admitted not taking much pride in it anymore.

"I'll…" Gohan spoke softly and the two looked at him while the tank filled. "I'll win… next time…" Gohan said before the liquid overtook him.

"Haha" the doctor laughed, "That sounded like a challenge to me!"

"Don't remind me…" Trunks shivered… "He just might pull through with that one too…" Trunks sighed as he watched Gohan floating asleep in the healing tank, "How long do you think it will be before he's done in there?"

The doctor looked over at the boy for a second contemplatively, "For his size and estimated weight… I'd say it would normally take about two or three hours… but as I'm guessing his power must be comparable to your own… five… six, seven hours?" the doctor shrugged, "It will take longer for the process to restore his strength than it will to heal his body."

Trunks nodded, after everything that happened tonight, he wasn't sure what Gohan would do once his strength returned… For all Trunks knew he would try to run again... or… whatever it was he was doing before he caught him.

Trunks pulled up a seat next to Gohan's tank and just thought for a while. Bulma came in nearly an hour later, "So you're still here huh?" she smiled at her son.

"Yeah… I'm just worried you know…"

"He'll be fine in there Trunks," Bulma smiled.

"That's not what I mean…" Trunks collected his thoughts before he said any more. "He did break in here… so first off I have to say how suspicious it seems… Second… even if he has no mal-intent, I did beat him up pretty good… and even said some mean things, I didn't even recognize him as Gohan… I hope he doesn't hold it against me for that…"

Bulma chuckled, "If he's anything like his father was, he won't hold any type of grudge for very long, his father had an amazing reputation of turning many of our once brutal enemies into trustworthy allies. And like you said, you didn't recognize him at first, and he was younger than you were the last time you met, so think about what his memory of us must be like, probably next to nothing. And on your other point, I wouldn't worry too much about his involvement with any malicious group toward us. I checked with our hidden security cameras and it seems as if he broke in with two other young boys. It wouldn't surprise me if they did it on some kind of foolish dare." Bulma sighed contently, "I remember what those days were like, the thrill of the risk and the hunt."

Trunks rolled his eyes, "Riiiiiiight mom…"

Bulma smacked him on the back of the head, "You'd probably still be surprised at some of the risks your father, Goku and I took when we were on our adventures. There were times I admit I didn't think we would make it out alive. But I don't regret any of it." Bulma sighed again, "Anyway, I'm hoping we can use the break in to our advantage anyway. If we make it seem like Midas Corp. was the one that broke in, it'll give us more of a chance to keep our contract up with the Cold Empire over them long enough to make our move." Bulma winked.

Trunks nodded, "And just maybe… Gohan will be willing to help too…"

Bulma smiled, "Wouldn't that be wonderful, it'd be like old times again!"

Trunks shook his head, "Oh mom…"

"Stop antagonizing me young man! So are you going to be here until he wakes up?" Bulma pointed to Gohan.

Trunks nodded, "Yeah I want to be sure I'm around in case anything happens."

Bulma chuckled again, "Just be sure and page me once he's awake, I'd like to talk to him also. I'll be down in the lab till then, let me know if you need anything!" Bulma kissed Trunks on the forehead and left the med lab.

Trunks only shook his head again and went back to sitting quietly in front of Gohan's rejuvenation tank. In his thoughts Trunks was continually blaming himself for not recognizing Gohan sooner. It had only been… ten years and more than half his life ago… But he still remembered things from back then. He remembered Gohan… Gohan was two years old the first time they really played together. But even then they got along well and worked well together to build sand castles in the playground, and Lego castles in Trunks' room…

Trunks watched through the view port as Gohan floated there in the tank. He had grown a lot but you could still see resemblances between him and his younger self. At least in the face you could… A round boyish face with that spike of hair that just settled nearly over his eyes. Similar… just more defined now… Gohan had definite muscle build up going on. He seemed a little too thin, probably from not eating properly… but he still had well developed muscles beneath his skin. Trunks eyes wondered over his strong arms, and nice developing stomach muscles. A blush crept over Trunks' face as he glanced lower at the shorts that were sticking tightly to Gohan's body in the healing goop. Then down Gohan's legs which also seemed thin, yet definitely muscular at the same time. A dirty thought flashed through Trunks mind for a moment but he quickly shook it off and sat back down.

Trunks sighed deeply and banged the back of his head against the tank. He shut his eyes and decided he might as well nap for a bit.

Trunks stood in front of the tank as the fluid drained and lid opened. He reached in and pulled the breathing mask from Gohan's face, "Gohan, wake up, you're all healed now."

Gohan's eyes slowly opened and he looked around, then looked himself over, and then finally smiled up at Trunks, "I really am all better! Thank you Trunks! Arigato!"

"No sweat Gohan… I felt so bad for what happened, it was all my fault…" Trunks looked down ashamed of his actions.

"It's OK Trunks! You couldn't have known it was me anymore than I could have known it was you!" Trunks looked down into those smiling bright eyes glaring up at him and nearly melted.

"Oh Gohan, I was so worried for a while there, I thought you might hate me…"

Gohan shook his head and hugged Trunks, "Of course not Trunks, our friendship goes way too far back to let something like this make me hate you!"

Trunks squeezed Gohan tighter to him, "You know, I've never been able to really get along with anyone else since you left… There's been no one here for me… family… but no _real_ friends… I missed you so much Gohan!"

"Me too Trunks, so much…" They pulled out of the warm embrace and stared into each other's eyes. The moment seemed magical as their faces drew closer to each other, and their lips were only millimeters apart…

BUZZ! Trunks was jolted from his dream as the alarm went off indicating Gohan was going to be ready to come out soon. Trunks jumped up and shook himself to get the images from his dream out of his head.

Trunks pulled a communicator out of his pocket and pressed the button on top, "Mom, Gohan will be waking up soon."

The contraption gave a beep then a response, "Great, I still need a few minutes, so would you help him out and get him a room for me, thanks hun!" It beeped again and went out.

Trunks sighed and slid the box back in his pocket. "Sure…" he whispered and swallowed hard.

The gel drained from the tank Trunks entered the command to open the door. As the door opened, Gohan's eyes snapped open and he pulled the mask from his face, staring up at Trunks as if waiting for him to make the first move.

Trunks cringed on the inside before forcing as gentle of a smile as he could, "How are you feeling?"

Gohan looked him over appraisingly, "OK… How long was I in here?" he asked quietly.

Trunks looked over at the clock, "Around… wow about six hours…"

Gohan's eyes widened and he flexed his arm a bit noticing all the pain was gone. "Here!" Gohan looked up at Trunks as a towel was tossed to him. "Dry off and I'll show you around."

Gohan dried his face quickly, then his eyes never left Trunks. The look he was giving him sent chills up Trunks spine. It was like he was either prepping for round two, or looking for a way out…

"You can relax Gohan, I don't know what's been going on around you, but really, you're among friends now." Gohan scrunched his nose at Trunks statement and tossed the towel back to him.

Trunks caught it and tossed a bag back over to Gohan. Gohan caught the bag and looked questioningly at Trunks. "Clothes for you, don't think you want to walk around like that do you?" Gohan's eyes widened as he blushed a little before his face scrunched up and he dressed.

The clothes consisted of a white shirt with mid length blue sleeves and baggy grey pants and black boots. They hung off Gohan's slim figure pretty loosely, but weren't too bad. "Where'd you get these?" Gohan asked looking himself over.

"They're my clothes from a few years ago, hadn't dumped them yet and thought they'd be the closest thing to your fit that I have."

Gohan nodded with approval, "They're comfortable."

"Good…" Trunks admitted to himself he did look good in them too. The way it hung off his shoulders made him look a little more boyish and cute.

Gohan still stood nervously in front of Trunks, Trunks could tell by the way Gohan's tail jerked at random intervals. "I know I can trust you Gohan so I want to go ahead and tell you about a few things around here."

Gohan looked up at Trunks curiously before Trunks continued, "I'm sure you've been confused since this whole ordeal started, and probably still don't remember a whole lot about us. But the first thing I want to get out is don't believe all of the news you've probably heard about Capsule Corp."

Gohan tilted his head and a "huh?" escaped his throat.

"It's pretty common knowledge that Capsule Corp has been making and adapting new technologies for the Cold Empire. Well in reality this is just a front. You see, right now you're underneath the Capsule Corp building. Our secret underground is a base of operations for anti-Frieza movements here on earth. We plot out different activities to use against the Cold-Empire right from under his nose. And the technology… Well let's just say that he only _thinks_ he's getting top of the line when we're constantly several stages more advanced down here."

Gohan's eyes widened. He had no clue at all what kind of mess he was stumbling into. He realized he was being given information that was deathly serious. Not that Gohan had any love at all for Frieza's empire, he broke into the Capsule Corp. with the intention of stealing from it after all. In a way it was kind of exciting, and even more interesting that he actually knows people who are actively terrorizing the Cold-Empire.

"So follow me and I'll give you the tour." Trunks winked to Gohan and walked out of the med-lab.

Gohan followed into the bright hallway. "This is the main hall for our base. It circles around the main shaft of the building's foundation for about two hundred feet down. At the very bottom is the main lab, and there's a lot of other rooms along the way." Trunks stopped and opened a door to the side, "This leads to the hall for the living quarters. Mom had a room set up for you while you were healing, it's this way."

"A room for me?" Gohan looked confused.

Trunks cringed a little, "Well… Mom wants to get the chance to talk to you… and… well we'd both like to get caught up with you and find out what's been going on… And you're always welcome to stay you know." Trunks said nervously as he walked down the hall.

Gohan wasn't sure what to make of his tone yet. It sounded sad, yet hopeful… The thought suddenly crossed Gohan's mind that maybe they didn't want him to leave…

"It's this room here," Trunks entered a code in the door, and it slid open. As Gohan walked in he was shocked. The room was large and clean, with warm plush carpeting and white walls. There was a sofa with a small table in front of it and a bookshelf against the wall, a separate bedroom with a full sized bed and a private bathroom. It was like a little apartment only nicer than the ones he'd seen above ground. "What do you think?" Trunks asked as he moved closer to the sofa.

Gohan was still looking around when he asked, "Is this really just for _one_ person?"

Trunks nodded, "Yes."

"It's huge!" Trunks was a little confused but didn't say anything as he sat down.

"Go ahead and have a seat Gohan, mom should be here any minute." Gohan did just that, but was still looking around the room. There were no windows, but there was a large fish tank built in the wall seeming to make up for it by emitting dim purple and blue light. "So… wow… I don't even know where to begin Gohan… Do you remember me at all from when you were little?" Trunks looked at Gohan hopeful.

"Well…" Gohan started, "I really can't say I remember anything definitely… but now I feel like there's just something familiar about a few things… Like Capsule Corp. I just knew seemed strange to me to be associated with the empire…"

Trunks smiled a bit, "I remember a little, I was seven years old the last time I saw you, and we were playing out in Grandma's garden. My father was supposed to be watching us, but he was actually taking a nap under a tree somewhere. We found him napping and turned on the fertilizer sprinklers that were around him. The chemicals turned his skin blue and he started yelling real loud… His yelling made you cry, but before he could apologize and make you stop crying your mom came out and yelled at him for yelling at us and took you home. Dad was semi-blue for nearly a week after that too…" Trunks sighed.

Gohan thought for a moment, "Actually that does sound kind of familiar… I remember more stuff like… blocks or something…"

Trunks smiled, "That's right, you used to love to come over and play with my Lego collection, we'd make a big mess with them all over the floor and make strange things…"

The door opened as Trunks was finishing that statement, "I remember that, I was the one who had to come up with a way to get all those things off the floor before the vacuum bots came in and jammed up on those." Bulma said as she walked over to the couch. "Hello Gohan," she smiled.

"Hi…" Gohan said weakly.

Bulma reached into her pocked and pulled out a capsule and clicked it before tossing it in front of the boys. A chair materialized from it and she took a seat. "So gosh… it's really been ten years!" Bulma stated, "After everything happened back then… I tried to get a hold of your mom, but when got I to the old mountain house there was already no one there. I looked for a while but couldn't find either of you anywhere. You have to tell me what happened!" Bulma leaned forward in her chair and waited for the story.

Gohan's eyes narrowed as he remembered some of it. He was quiet for a moment before apologizing and going on… "I don't remember much of how it started out… Mom and I lived in an apartment in Cold Capitol. She was really sad for a long time because dad wasn't around. I was too… but I didn't understand why at the time… Mom got a job as refreshment supplier for the mid sections of the nearby mines. When she wasn't working, she would train me sometimes in the basement of the building where the washing machines were. While she was working she told me to either train myself or study. After a while we got used to it mostly… I didn't leave the house much… mom always told me to never let my tail leave my waist when other people were around. Because of my tail I guess mom kept me inside a lot… One day she just came home from work sick though… She was hurting so much and kept clutching her chest…" Gohan gripped his pant legs tighter as he remembered what it was like right before she passed away. "She had that new virus that came from deep in the mines that kills the heart. She died from it just a week later." Gohan paused for a while longer, "That was three years ago…"

Bulma's hand covered her mouth as she digested the horrible news. "Oh my god… Gohan I am so sorry… I wish I had known… Had I only been able to find you guys maybe I could have helped…" tears streaked her face as thoughts of her old best friend went through her mind.

Trunks got over the shock first, "Three years ago… Gohan, what have you been doing since then?"

"Right after that happened, I was taken in by a group in Cold Capitol called the Rogues."

"What kind of group are they?" Trunks looked confused.

Bulma gave a bit of a choked chuckle, almost out of annoyance, "Trunks, isn't it obvious? It's a street gang."

Gohan rolled his eyes a bit, "Well… kind of… I mean… well not really. We're just a group, mostly guys around my age up to a few years older than Trunks. None of us really have any parents… and we just stick together and do what we have to do to survive." Gohan was finding it difficult to put the right words together. It was odd he felt he could trust them with this kind of information already.

Bulma had regained her composer by now along with her wit, "Aha! But then what were you doing breaking into the building upstairs today? Hmmm?" Bulma smirked.

Gohan's eyes widened… "Well… about that… OK fine it was a dare to break in and steal something important."

"And what were you going to do with whatever you stole?" Trunks noticed that his mom was really pouring all of her motherly guilt trip tones into what she was saying to Gohan. Trunks sighed again, just like his mom to dig for the confession.

Gohan gave in, "Probably add it the trophies of other things we've taken…" the pride suddenly leaving Gohan's voice.

"As I said, you guys are a street gang." Bulma said with her "I'm right, you're wrong" smile plastered on her face.

Bulma stood from her chair and placed her hands on Gohan's shoulders, "Gohan, I realize after three years you probably have strong connections with your group of rogues, but I just want to let you know now, your mom and dad were my best friends in the whole world. I knew your dad so long ago it isn't even funny, and the stories I could tell you of some of our adventures… It really was amazing what we did back then. I am so sorry to hear about what happened to Chichi Gohan, I loved her a lot, like a sister, and as for you, you are always welcome with me and Trunks, in fact there is nothing that would make me happier right now Gohan than if you would stay with us, join us, and let me help take care of all of you." Bulma kissed Gohan's head, "So just think about it, you don't have to say yes or no right now, but do consider it. I'm sure Trunks would love the company again, and…" Bulma's composure loosened briefly as a shiver traveled over her body, "Think about it, OK Gohan?"

Gohan nodded, "I will… Thank you…"

Bulma closed her eyes and smiled, "Well then, how about a tour of our underground Capsule Complex then!"

"Ummm… OK…" Gohan said nervously.

"Great! Then we'll start right outside with the rest of the residential wing!" Bulma jumped up and opened the front door. She stood there until both boys followed behind her. "This way leads to living area. My room and Trunks' room is also right over here. But skipping those, the first room is the grand lounge!" The hall opened into a large round room with a huge screen on one wall and several sofas and chairs scattered about the room. "Behind the lounge is the kitchen area. I have chef bots constantly on standby to make anything that anyone could want!" She walked over to one, "Make me a ground sirloin sandwich with all the regular toppings plus banana slices and peanut butter." The robot immediately went to work in the kitchen, and within a minute a plate slid over the counter with Bulma's order.

"Great, thanks!" She sniffed the food, "Ahh smells good, here you go Gohan, you look like you could use it!" she winked as she slid the plate over to the boy.

Gohan took the offering cautiously, "Thanks," he said looking at the odd combination of ingredients under the bun.

"Don't worry, you can bring that with you. Moving on! The next room is the dining area." The door behind the kitchen lead to an area that looked a lot like a restaurant with tables and booths set up all along the room. "If you were going to sit and eat, here would be the best place to do it." Bulma turned around and headed back from where they came. "There's a few other cool places to the residential wing, but I'll let Trunks show you later." The three walked back out of the residential area to the main hall of the complex.

"Down here is the training wing," Bulma opened the large door and once again there was another hall in front of them. "Most of these rooms are not much more than a small dojo." Gohan looked through a window on one of the doors and saw a group of people inside all practicing what looked like Tai-Kwon-Do. "As we get deeper in we get to some of the more advanced training rooms, including Trunks' favorite, the gravity room." The door was huge and had a large bolt lock. Bulma pressed a button on the control panel, "Hey you guys, I have someone who I want to introduce you to, and he'd also like to see the gravity room."

A brief silence went by, "Sure, we're turning the gravity off now." Another moment passed, and then the light on the keypad went from red to green and the bolt lock turned. Trunks pulled the door open and Bulma stepped in.

"Gohan I'd like you to meet Yamcha and Tien, they were also friends of your dad, Yamcha, Tien, this is Gohan, Goku's son."

The two who were training stopped cold at the mention of that name. They stared at Gohan wide eyed, "Can it really be?" Tien asked.

"Oh wow, it really is Goku's kid, I can't believe it!" Yamcha exclaimed looking Gohan over and immediately catching the resemblance.

"Yamcha and Tien are part of our anti-Frieza resistance Gohan, they're training really hard just like everyone else to be ready to fight off Frieza's soldiers when the time comes!" Bulma cheered the two on.

"Wow, I can't believe all this is going on right underneath one of Frieza's bases, how can you guys train so hard while making sure Frieza's scouters don't pick up on your power levels?" Gohan looked around the room and at the large machine against the wall with a large 1G displayed on the panel.

Bulma laughed, "This entire complex has a special type of magnetic shielding around it Gohan. It stops scouters from being able to detect anything within these walls. That way all of our people can train at their fullest without worrying about alerting enemy soldiers to our presence here. I came up with it myself you know," she winked happily.

"Wow! That's really something, I sure could have used something like that… it's really hard having to _always_ keep your power suppressed…"

Trunks nodded, "I can imagine."

"Thanks you guys!" Bulma waved to Tien and Yamcha, "We'll let you get back to your training."

"Yeah OK, and guess we'll be seeing you around, right Gohan!" Yamcha gave him a thumbs up as the three walked back out of the room.

"So by gravity room, when this door closes and the light goes red, that means the gravity inside starts becoming more intense than the gravity outside right?" Gohan pieced that much together.

"Yup, that's how it works alright," Bulma answered.

"How much extra gravity can it add?" Gohan asked watching as the panel went to red again.

"Well, those two have been training under ten times normal gravity, but the machine is capable of much higher gravity ratings than that. Trunks actively trains in what… fifty times gravity would you say Trunks?"

Trunks blushed a little, "Yeah… I guess I usually have it set to fifty."

Bulma nodded, "But the machine is capable of surpassing a hundred times gravity if you can stand it without being flattened, it's really not something to fool heartedly mess around with."

Gohan gulped and nodded.

"The next set of rooms down this hall are the shooting range where we test out the blasters for our people who can't fire off energy naturally like yours truly, and past that is the largest room in the complex which is used as a testing arena for vehicles and other larger pieces of battle equipment." Bulma lead them back out to the main hall again and continued down. "The next door leads to our storage facilities. We keep everything in there from food and supplies to weapons and artillery. The area after that is really cool, it's the agricultural manufacturing center, but we call it the food lab for short." Bulma opened the door and let Gohan look inside. "The lamps situated along the ceiling emit special radiation waves which imitate the sun's rays coming through atmosphere and allow plants to use photosynthesis even underground so we can produce our own fruits, vegetables, and wheat. Their growth is also accelerated through special growth chemicals given through the irrigation system. The room across from that synthesizes meat products… it's probably better we not go into detail on how we do that…"

Trunks put a hand on Gohan's shoulder and nodded to him while rubbing his stomach.

"Hey!" Bulma retorted, "It's not that bad… Anyway, the last room in there is the water purification center. We have our own water line that runs to several water sources and runs the water back here and to our faucet lines after putting it through a series of twenty nine filtration processes to make sure no kind of radiation comes in with it. Anyway, all the food that is produced here is capsuled is special refrigeration capsules and put in storage until the kitchen needs it."

The boys continued to follow Bulma down the main hall, "The last stop is where you'll usually find me, the main lab." Bulma opened the large double doors at the bottom of the hallway into a huge brightly lit area with dozens of people in white coats running around doing various things. "All of the things that we're supposedly developing upstairs was actually made about five years ago down here." Gohan looked around intrigued, there were pieces lining the walls of what looked like could be a spaceship, and mechanical battle suits that looked like they could have come straight from a movie.

"Wow…" was all Gohan could say as he looked around.

"Under here is also where the main power generator for the entire complex is. So tell me Gohan, what do you think?"

Gohan was still looking around, "This entire place… is huge… with the Rogues… we had almost a hundred of us sleeping in a room probably not much bigger than your lounge…"

"Wow that sounds cramped." Bulma cringed, "What would you do for privacy?"

Gohan blushed a little… "Well… there isn't any really…"

"Gosh, how awful! I know if I don't get any private time for at least an hour a day I get really cranky, Trunks will attest to that, won't you?"

"Oh yeah… you don't wanna know how sh…"

"Thanks Trunks, anyway, just to reinforce this with you, I would love it if you would stay, you can call this place your home from now on Gohan. We could really use another Saiyan on the resistance too. So please think it over, tell me you will!" Bulma looked hopeful.

Gohan scratched the back of his head, "I'll… I'll definitely sleep on it."

"That's great to hear! Well I need to get back to work on my new project, so why don't the two of you go do something, and I'll see you later,"

"OK mom, I'll show Gohan some of the other rec areas in the residential wing," Trunks waved to his mom as she stepped on a platform and pushed a lever to make it start moving away.

"Sounds good, take care you guys." Bulma's platform hovered over to the other side of the room.

"Your mom… is interesting Trunks…" Gohan said as he watched her float away.

Trunks laughed, "Tell me about it, anyway, let's go." Trunks lead Gohan back upstairs to the residential wing. "On the other side of the lounge is a cool recreational area." Trunks walked them through the lounge and opened the door on the other side. "We have basketball, tennis, and a couple other sports in the first room, and over through the double doors over there are some pool tables, and even some arcade machines."

Gohan checked out the room with the pool tables and arcades first. "Whoa… this is cool Trunks. I just still can't get over how much you guys have underground here."

Trunks smiled, he liked seeing Gohan excited, "Mom believes in keeping morale among the troops up. It's not easy going against a force like the Cold Emplire, but being able to live a little better off can make it easier for some people to deal with."

Gohan nodded, "Yeah I guess… The people up on the surface act more out of fear and desperation than anything else… Those of us who go against the system usually end up starving if you try to make it alone… But the larger the group the easier it is to get caught… Us Rogues have been really lucky so far…"

"That's awful… but if it's hard for one person to live on the street without starving, how does grouping make that easier?" Trunks wasn't understanding of that concept.

"Oh, well you see, once your group is big enough you can take what you need from other groups, like the Muratzos, they're a group who does more business interaction than street action, and have more supplies horded away than they'll ever need. Some groups were able to take advantage of the situation on the streets and get in good with the right guards and enforcers of the martial law and get a lot more than everyone else. My friends and I usually target people like that and steal enough to last our whole group several days at a time. But it's cool because even if we're not able to get enough or anything for that matter, with any luck there's someone else in our group who was. So we might not have much, but we normally end up with something."

Trunks shook his head, "It wasn't always like that you know… back when we were little things were a lot better… and that's why we do what we do here, one day things are going to be like they were, there will be food for everyone, and no one will be forced to work in the mines…" Trunks clenched his fist tight for a moment and then regained his composure.

"So Gohan, you any good at any of these?" Trunks gestured to the rest of the room.

"Sports and stuff… I dunno… I don't play a whole lot." Gohan said almost shyly.

"No problem then, I'll show you, come on," Trunks dragged Gohan over to the pool tables, "Just try and keep in mind that these were all designed for normal humans, so putting too much strength into it can be bad. Mom says these kind of sports are a good way to practice self-control."

Gohan looked a little confused as Trunks handed him a pool stick. Trunks explained to Gohan all the rules of the game. Trunks demonstrated by doing the opening break. Gohan nodded and lined up his shot. He tapped the cue ball with his stick and the ball hit the end of the table and flew off into the air. Gohan watched as the ball flew and flew until a shattering noise could be heard in the background. Trunks clutched his stomach while laughing while Gohan was both confused and embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it Gohan, that was great though!" Trunks laughed a second more and returned to the task at hand. He pulled out a new cue ball and set it on the table. "Normally that's a scratch, but I'll give you another turn, remember now, you have to _really_ control your strength, these balls are very light so putting in even a little too much force will cause something like that to happen," Trunks chuckled a bit more, "OK try again."

Gohan nodded and lined up his shot again. This time the ball did what he wanted and put a ball in the side pocket. "Like that?"

"Great! Now watch this!" Trunks showed off some more complicated moves and tricks and before long it turned into a good fun game.

Once Bulma was done for the night, she walked over to the living area and saw a slight crowd gathered over the billiards room. Curious she walked over to check it out and saw Trunks and Gohan in the center of it all.

"Oh yeah?!" Trunks gave a confident smirk, "I bet I can! Watch this!" Trunks hit the cue ball and the room watched as it bounced around the table, knocking all nine solid colored balls into a pocket. Trunks pulled the balls back out and set them for Gohan.

"Not bad…" Gohan smirked, "But now that you've revealed your little secret, it's all over!" Gohan broke the set first, then walked around the table checking his angles. He spent a good few minutes calculating the geometry of the table up and chose his shot. Once he struck the cue ball it bounced and rebounded all around the table, striking ball after ball after ball. Trunks stared in shock as Gohan's eyes seemed to be following the trail as if he had already calculated that all of this would happen. With only two balls left on the table, the cue ball bounced off the nine ball, sending it straight to the middle pocket, then with the last of its momentum hit the 8 ball leaving the cue ball stopped in the middle of the table. The 8 ball slowly rolled towards the corner pocket. All eyes watched as it inched and seemed to crawl its way across the table. It came to within a millimeter of dropping into the hole and just stopped. "You gotta be kidding… Drop you stupid ball!" Gohan yelled at it, but nothing… The crowd clapped at the amazing performance while Gohan staggered at the anti-climactic ending.

Trunks put an arm around Gohan's shoulder, "That wasn't bad, shame on the ending though." Trunks blew hard in the balls direction and it dropped in. He smirked down at Gohan who just playfully scowled back.

The crowd dispersed and once they were all gone Trunks and Gohan dropped to the ground laughing. Bulma walked over to the boys with a look of confusion on her face, "What's going on?" she asked.

Trunks was the first to answer, "All of those guys actually think we're that good at this game!" Trunks continued laughing.

"I saw it, those were some really amazing shots, and… what are you talking about?"

Gohan was still giggling so Trunks finished, "Gohan didn't actually hit the ball just right to do all that you know. He was using his energy to push the balls exactly where he wanted them, we were both doing that when a couple of guys walked over and saw us playing and started screaming we were billiard gods!"

Gohan regained himself and looked back over to Trunks, "That was really cool, I've always been to afraid of getting caught to do something like that before!"

Bulma shook her head, "Oh you boys…" she smiled and hugged Trunks, kissing him on the head before saying, "Well I'm going to bed, so I'll see you later, good night." She took Gohan by surprise by giving him a hug also.

"Good night mom!" Trunks called.

Gohan nodded, "Good night miss Bulma!"

Bulma cringed and shook her head, "Oh no, none of this "miss" stuff, you call me Bulma, alright?!" Gohan gulped audibly and nodded, "Good… Now good night you two!" Bulma walked off to her room.

"It is getting late, we should probably go to bed too," Trunks said after his mom was out of sight, "It was a lot of fun getting to hang out with you again Gohan… I really hope we get to hang out like this a lot from now on." Trunks smiled before he started walking over to his room also.

Gohan followed and just thought some. It was still so much to take in so quickly. Trunks entered the code to his room and the door opened. He stood in the door way for a moment looking Gohan over obviously thinking of something but not saying anything.

"Thanks a lot Trunks," Gohan bowed, "Good night."

Trunks smiled, "Good night Gohan. Remember if you need anything, just come knock anytime." The door closed and Gohan walked over to his room.

Trunks had slipped him a paper with the code to open his door. He pushed in the buttons on the door and slid open. Gohan still couldn't believe how spacious this room was. Gohan walked over to the bedroom and pulled off the clothes of Trunks' he was wearing. He lied on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, "Wow this is comfortable…" he said out loud as he stared at the ceiling through the very dim purple light. "Damn I need a smoke though…" Gohan rolled on his side and tried to sleep.

**End Chapter**


	4. Lying From You

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

Reviews anyone?

Chapter 4: Lying From You

Bulma woke up the next morning and got ready to begin her hours of boredom as she called it everyday having to pretend to make new inventions for the Cold Empire. She dressed and walked out of her room.

As she walked down the hall she passed Gohan's room and a strange feeling came over her. Acting on a whim she punched in the code to open the door and walked inside. She slowly slid the door to the bedroom open while calling, "Good morning Go..." She looked around and noticed the room was well made and empty, "…han…" There was a note left on the bed that she picked up and read.

"Dear Trunks and Bulma. I'm sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but there are a few things I still need to think of and figure out. Thank you so much for showing me all those things yesterday, I'm so glad that I got the chance to meet you. Hopefully we'll see each other again. Again, please forgive my rudeness and cowardice. Sincerely, Gohan."

Bulma shook her head, "Trunks is going to be so disappointed…" She took the note and left it in the living room, and headed out to her duties. She had a hard time concentrating on even the simplest of modifications and adjustments to an out of date design. She had really been hoping Gohan would stay with them…

Two hours later, Trunks was standing in Gohan's room, clutching the note left on table tight in his hand. Shakily he put the note back down, "Well… that didn't take too long… did it?" Trunks spoke aloud in a crackled voice. Trunks dropped on a chair, and thought in silence. He just wanted a chance to get to know him again… Was that still asking for too much?

Gohan shook the sleep from his head as the dome train made its way back to Cold Capitol. It was a really early morning train ride, and there was hardly anyone else on the train. Gohan kept noticing one of the -older passengers of the train kept staring at him and it was giving him the chills. Gohan accredited it to the fact that he was still wearing the clothes Trunks gave him. They were comfortable, but he imagined they looked a little big on him.

It was a long, boring trip to take all alone. Barren wastelands were the only thing to see out of the window for miles. Gohan sighed as the landscape flew by. Gohan felt someone sit by him and whisper into his ear, "Never give up hope boy."

Gohan looked back over at the man who'd been watching him for a while, dressed in a black suite and hat with a long beard and sunglasses, "Right…" Gohan dragged out.

The train finally pulled into the station at Cold Capitol. Gohan jumped off almost immediately and disappeared into the crowd. That guy on the train sure was weird, kept trying to put his hand on his leg or touch him or something… Gohan shook his head and kept running.

Gohan never took the same way back twice. He ducked behind different sets of alley ways, taking the long way around tall buildings just to be sure no one saw him and followed him back to the hideout without him noticing first. It was afternoon by the time Gohan stood before the door the Rogue's hideout.

Gohan used the knock code and the door slowly opened. The door guard looked at Gohan confused when he saw the clothes Gohan was wearing. "It's me, and don't ask…" Gohan stepped inside without any further hassling.

Gohan walked through the crowded living area that the Rogues called home. After staying just one night in the Capsule Corp, Gohan couldn't help but pick up many different odors that radiated off of everything in this place. Cigarettes, drugs, among other scents Gohan couldn't place lingered like a haze. He was kicking himself for "Capsule Corps sure was clean," being his first thoughts back home.

He surveyed the place well before homing in on his targets. Walking across the room, getting various glances, now probably due to how nice the condition of his clothes were in, he snaked his way until he stood behind a certain table.

Rowdy leaned on the table, his head resting in his hands, seeming to be in some kind of funk, while Haru had his arm over Rowdy's shoulder just rubbing it consolingly. Gohan took a seat on the other side of Rowdy, "What's up with the long face?"

Rowdy's eyes narrowed, and his spaced out look immediately hardened. Haru leaned forward to look around Rowdy as Rowdy's own head turned to look.

"Heya!" Gohan said leaning back in his seat, one arm draped over the back and his legs crossed.

Rowdy blinked a few times apparently just to be sure he wasn't imagining things, "Go… han?" he said meekly. Gohan smiled and nodded, "GOHAN!" Rowdy shouted as he jumped from his seat, tossing it over as he crushed himself against Gohan in a tight hug.

Had Gohan not had a good grip on the backing of the chair, Rowdy might have pushed them both off and to the floor. "Gohan!" Rowdy sniffled out again, "I… We thought you were dead for sure!"

"Is that all the faith you guys have in me?" Gohan pushed Rowdy off him enough so he could look down at his face, "I'm invincible remember?"

Rowdy smiled, still laughing lightly as he wiped his face.

Haru shook his head, "Dude…" He paused, "How the hell…"

"It's a long story…" Gohan nodded to him.

"I bet it is… And I wanna hear it all," Gohan gave a crooked grin to Haru's comment.

Once Rowdy got off Gohan and back in his own seat, Gohan took the liberty of reaching over and pulling Haru's Cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one up, then placed them back in Haru's pocket, "Of course Gohan, if you'd like one, I don't mind, not at all…" Haru said sarcastically.

"Didn't think so," Gohan said taking a big puff, and then quickly leaned forward coughing hard.

Haru and Rowdy looked at him strangely, "Are you alright?" Rowdy asked.

"Damn Gohan… I haven't seen you do that since the first time you took one of those," Haru commented.

Gohan looked the cigarette over, it was a regular lite even… But his lungs were causing havoc in his chest after just one. How could he not be used to these after just a day?

Gohan's head shot up as he remembered. After Trunks beat him up real good he ended up in that healing tank… it was filled with artificial DNA to restore his body. He absorbed it through every pour… so did that mean it even refreshed his lungs?

Gohan looked a little freaked out and put the cigarette out. "Dude what's up?" Haru asked looking at Gohan concerned.

"Nothing…" Gohan settled back in chair, "nothing's wrong…" Haru made a mental note but didn't push further. "I'm hungry, I'm gonna grab some food," Gohan got up and left to get something, he really was a lot hungrier than usual.

"Wow… Gohan seems… different…" Rowdy said watching Gohan walk over to the food bin.

"You noticed it huh?" Haru crossed his arms also watching.

"Do you think something happened to Gohan?" Rowdy asked worriedly.

Haru shook his head, "I'm not sure…"

Gohan grabbed a bowl and poured himself some grains and gruel; amazingly he was in the mood for a ground sirloin sandwich. He shook his head from the thought. He took his food back over to the table. He wasn't even aware of Haru and Rowdy watching him intently.

In the blink of an eye Gohan nearly inhaled the food he brought with him. He looked down at his empty bowl such shock, he nearly dropped his spoon. He had filled the bowl to the rim because he was hungry, and after engulfing the entire bowl he felt as if he barely had eaten anything.

Rowdy's eyes widened, the hand motion blur alone had him completely confused. Haru couldn't take much more of this.

Haru stood from his seat, grabbed Gohan from under his arm and dragged him up, "We need to talk, Rowdy, we'll be right back."

Rowdy nodded as Haru dragged Gohan away, "Alright…"

"What the hell man?" Gohan sounded aggravated as he was being dragged away.

"We're going some place private." Haru opened up the bathroom and pushed Gohan inside, locking it behind them.

Once he was sure there was no one else using the baths or toilets Haru returned his gaze to Gohan for a moment. He was about to speak, but rethinking his position rested his forehead against his hand looking very contemplative. "Let's try from the beginning," he finally said.

The look on Gohan's face was a sad hurt expression, "Please Haru… I don't want…"

Haru interrupted him sternly, "Gohan look… I already know you're not… _normal_. OK?! I've had my suspicions honestly for over a year now. The way you always seem to know when trouble's coming. Like it's some kind of sixth sense inside you to feel out where things are, how close they are, how much time we have. Every now and then you've even been known to pull off some sort of impossible feat of strength even. And finally the run on Capsule Corp… When we were escaping and whatever it was tried blocking our exit, you were covering our flank, but in a burst of speed that was little more than a blur, you launched from behind us, flew past us, and tackled that guy right out of the way. I'll get right to the point… Gohan… you're not human are you?"

Gohan's expression darkened… "I… I…"

"Just tell me!" Haru demanded.

Gohan's hands went to his waist, and he started unbuckling his pants, "What the hell are you doing?!" Haru's eyes widened.

Gohan pushed his pants open just a little, and Haru saw movement from inside the zipper hole. Finally loose, Gohan's tail unraveled from around his waist and waved freely behind him.

Haru's mouth hung open slightly as he approached Gohan. The tail was long and bushy, not like the slithery or stubby tails he'd seen on most aliens. Haru slowly reached out and touched the sensitive appendage, causing Gohan to shutter slightly, "Sorry… I guess I should have asked first…"

Gohan's focus didn't change, "It's… ok…"

Haru was still watching Gohan's tail sway back and forth, "I can't believe I missed that…" Gohan didn't respond. Haru let out a deep sigh, "Well I guess this answers my first question… second is… _what_ are you?"

Gohan's jaw quivered a little, "I… I'm a halfer…" Gohan did his best to recompose himself, "I'm half human, and half another race called Saiyan."

Haru cocked his head funny, "I've never heard of Saiyans…"

Gohan shook his head, "It's because my father was one of only four survivors of their race after Frieza and his empire destroyed their home planet. I… I only know what I remember my mom telling me I guess, but my dad and the three others came to earth a long time ago, at least thirty years ago now, to hide from Frieza. About ten years ago was when the Cold Empire had expanded enough to reach earth. My father and the others did their best to defend earth from him. But in the end they were just four against all of them. My mom says they killed thousands of Frieza's men, but Frieza then killed my dad and the last of the Saiyans."

Haru leaned back against the wall taking it all in. He didn't pick up anything besides sincerity in Gohan's voice, and what Gohan said actually made other things make sense. The old newscasts from when earth was first invaded were so confusing, but plugging in that aliens were already on earth, and defending it from whatever was coming made a lot of that fit together. "I'm so sorry Gohan…"

Gohan looked up at Haru confused, "What?"

"So many things we said… still say… the way we generalize all aliens… I just feel like it must have been so hard for you… knowing you were even half alien, and listen to the rest of us talk about the loathing and such horrible things we would do to any alien. I never knew… I'm so sorry." Haru hid his face in his hands, "No wonder you never thought you could trust us with this secret… you've had it bottled for so long…"

The look on Gohan's face still read confusion. His mind was trying to pick at weather everything was ok, or if he should keep his guard up. Haru picked out the tension that was still inside Gohan, "Don't worry Gohan, this is _our_ secret, I won't tell anyone anything you don't want them to know."

Gohan looked a little more relieved, "Thanks Haru…"

Haru laughed, "And to think all this time I thought you were always being so modest or skittish, you never wanted anyone to be around you when you were bathing or dressing," Gohan blushed a little.

"Thanks for being such a good friend Haru," Gohan finally smiled again.

Haru patted Gohan on the shoulder, "No problem, but seriously, you can zip up your pants now."

Gohan blushed more and rewrapped his tail around his waist, and buttoned his pants back up.

"So you're like a super hero in the making you know?" Haru said suddenly.

"What are you talking about Haru?" Gohan's expression quirked.

"You know, half human, half alien, human looks, with super incredible alien powers, rising to save the earth from its oppressors!" Haru let out his full vision of Grandeur.

"Riiiiight…" Gohan said smirking.

Haru put his arm around Gohan's shoulder, "But you're going to need a super hero name, to protect your identity… How about Monkey Boy!"

Gohan pushed Haru off him and gave him a disapproving look.

"Sorry, bad name, but it's a cool idea you have to admit!" Gohan nodded.

"Thanks again Haru," Gohan hugged the slightly taller teen who hugged him back.

"Anytime bro, I'm here for you, and so is Rowdy."

Just then there was a loud knock at the door, "Why the fuck is the door locked?! I need to shit! Come on!"

"Lovely," Haru shook his head, and unlocked the door to let the poor bastard run to a stool as he and Gohan walked out.

The two found Rowdy still sitting where they left him, and went back to talking and spending their free time how they normally do.

Rowdy waited for Gohan to be distracted by something else before leaning over to Haru, "So what's the deal?"

"He's alright," was Haru's simple answer.

Rowdy shrugged it off. If Haru gave it the all clear then everything had to be OK.

Light's out came around everyone made it to their cots to sleep. Gohan laid on his cot staring at the dark ceiling just taking in what happened earlier. He had two fears about his _condition_. One was that of course if the martial authority found out he was part Saiyan that they would hunt him and kill him along with everyone else he knows. His mom made sure that fear was well engraved in his brain before she died. The one he developed on his own later was acceptance. He thought if people knew he was part alien that they would see him as nothing more than those same martial authorities that treat the rest of them like scourge.

But Haru at least broke through that fear of his. He knew what Gohan was now and accepted him for it. And what's more he knew Haru was right about Rowdy accepting him for it if he ever cared to divulge it to him. A lot of the other members of the rogues would definitely be questionable, especially the older ones. If they knew the truth, he knew a few who would probably even be willing to sell him to the Cold Empire. He cringed a little, but felt good that at least the ones he cared about the most were alright with him.

Gohan's mind must have been going over things like that for a long time. He rolled over on his side and looked over the rest of the room. His eyes focused to the dim light as he looked in the direction of his friends' cot. Gohan couldn't believe what he saw as his eyes widened, he quietly lifted his hands up to rub his eyes before looking again.

(Scene removed due to site policy)

It was about noon the next day Rowdy was following Haru around helping with their end of the group chores. As the two walked back to the base they noticed someone they'd never seen before standing outside with a strange device in his hands. The stranger kept moving the contraption around, pointing it at different places. He pointed it at the building the Rogues were based in and continued to approach it.

"Uh-oh…" Haru shushed Rowdy and the two continued to follow from the shadows.

The stranger made his way down the stairs to the front entrance of the base and knocked.

The guard recognizing the incorrect knock code ran over to the wall and flipped the switch. All the lights in the base shut off, and red ones came on taking their place. Everyone assumed emergency positions, quickly gathering up as much of their things as they could and waited for the escape sign.

Haru looked the stranger up and down; a tall older teenager with dark clothes and purple hair. He was wearing a black jacket, and right below the shoulder on the sleeve Haru noticed a badge that read Capsule Corp.

"Shit…" Haru said under his breath. "Rowdy, wait here."

Rowdy stared at Haru confused as Haru left the safety of the shadows.

Haru approached the stair case, standing directly behind the stranger, "That's a nice watch you got there," Haru said making his presence known.

The stranger turned and looked up at Haru, "What about it?"

"Nothing sir, just passing by and saw the cool gizmo, so what's going on?"

Trunks got the feeling this guy was up to something, "Nothing much, are you from around here?"

"Yeah, I am" Haru said sounding uncharacteristically cocky.

Trunks gritted his teeth a bit, he wasn't liking this guy's attitude, he knew something was up, "Do you know what's inside this building then?"

"No clue, prolly a bunch of dusty boxes, no one's owned this warehouse for years," Haru said hoping to disinterest him.

Trunks laughed, "That and stolen property…" he said under his breath, just loud enough for Haru to hear.

Haru had his hand in one of his pockets, and in a quick smooth motion he pulled his hand from his pocket flinging some kind of powder at Trunks' face. Trunks yelled and started trying to wipe the powder from his face and eyes.

Haru used his advantage to jump in, take the tracking device right out from Trunks' hands and ran off. Trunks realized he'd just been mugged, and quickly recovered. He was able to open his eyes in time to see the Haru run off to the side of the building.

In a single jump Trunks was at the top of the stairs, and began pursuit.

Rowdy saw the guy jump from the stair well and give chase to Haru. Haru was still holding that guys computer looking thing. "Haru you crazy ass…" Rowdy stayed hidden but followed as well.

Trunks jumped and made a mid air flip, landing in front of Haru facing him. Haru skid to a stop, "Whoa…" he breathed out.

"Give that back," Trunks commanded.

Haru gulped hard, "Make me!" He just had to buy some time…

Gohan almost had his things in his bag when he felt it, that barely noticeable familiar feeling. He looked towards the wall to try and feel better what was on the other side of it, "Trunks?"

Gohan pushed his way to the front of the base. It was fighting the current since everyone was trying to make it to the escape exit in the back. The gate guard tried to block him as he ran towards the door. Gohan seemed to blur from sight and just appeared at the door behind the guard, pushed it open, jumped over the stairwell, and ran in the direction he felt Trunks in. He had the feeling something bad was going to happen if he didn't stop it.

Haru pocketed the device he swiped, and got ready to fight. He knew he didn't have any kind of alien strength, but he was still a good fighter in his own right.

Trunks knew this kid didn't stand a chance against him, even with his power suppressed. He didn't want to hurt him, but he seemed determined to keep his tracker for himself.

Haru made the first move and charged forward towards Trunks. He leap kicked towards Trunks' head. Trunks put up a hand and blocked the kick, and with but a twist of the wrist grabbed Haru's ankle and tossed him up in the air.

'This guy is majorly strong!' Haru thought as he flipped to try and land without breaking anything.

"Look, just give it back and leave, I really don't want to hurt you," Haru looked at Trunks funny. No henchmen of the Cold Empire would let him go now without being put to death… was it a trick?

Haru wasn't going to take a chance, he lunged again. Trunks sighed, he didn't want to hurt him, but he had to end this. Trunks dropped to his combat stance and readied to deliver a punch to knock him out.

Haru saw things in slow motion. It was as if he suddenly wasn't moving, but the guy he was fighting was coming at him full speed. His brain had just enough time to comprehend there was no way he could move his body to do anything about this.

Just as the impact seemed to be inevitable, Gohan appeared between the two of them, catching each of their attacks in a hand, "Stop this now!" he pushed harder and separated the two none two gently.

"Gohan, what?" Haru and Trunks said at the same time. They stared at each other in confusion, but soon the confusion turned to the understanding that they both knew Gohan somehow.

Gohan turned to Haru first, "Don't worry Haru, he's not a bad guy."

Haru nodded to him apprehensively.

Gohan turned to Trunks now and took a few steps over, "Trunks? What are you doing here?"

Trunks grinned, "Well, honestly I'm here looking for you, but the only way I could think to find you was to track down those tracking nodes that were stolen out of the Capsule Corps lab."

Gohan slapped his forehead, "You can home in on those?" Trunks nodded.

Rowdy continued to watch everything that was going on, and he was genuinely confused out of his mind. Once second Haru is about to get his ass kicked, and the next Gohan just appears out of thin air between them, and now everything is almost ok… From the look on Haru's face that Rowdy could see from where he was, it was pretty obvious he was feeling somewhat similar.

Gohan looked over at Haru, "Hey, could you tell everyone that it was a false alarm, they don't need to evacuate or anything."

Haru sulked, "That right, they're probably freaking out, ha!"

Trunks looked at them confused, "What?"

"You knocked on the door, that kind of sounded the alarm," Gohan told him.

"Oh…" Trunks looked the building over, it was obvious to him now that this Haru was just trying to defend everyone from him.

"Once Haru gets back we can go somewhere a little more private," Gohan looked over to the side, "You can come too Rowdy!"

Trunks turned around and saw another boy's head just barely poking out from the side of a crate in a building's shadow. "Geez, I'm getting sloppy…" Trunks shook his head.

"Nah, we're just that good!" Gohan smiled. Rowdy finally came out from the shadows and stood at Gohan's side. A few minutes later Haru came back behind them. "OK, I know a place we can go where no one will eavesdrop, let's go." Gohan lead the way down the alley ways of the city.

After a few minutes of walking, Gohan jumped over a tape barricade that marked the building they were entering as condemned. They climbed up the stairs to a higher floor before Gohan stopped and sat down, the rest following suit.

Gohan placed his attention on Haru and Rowdy, "OK… for what you're about to hear to make any sense, I have to tell you what happened a couple days ago." He looked over to Trunks to make sure he had his approval to tell them about a few things, Trunks nodded to him so he continued. "OK, well, the night we broke into Capsule Corp. the person who jumped in front of us while were trying to escape was Trunks here." Trunks waved at the two who looked at him funny, "You guys got away, but Trunks caught me, and we had it out in a storage room there. Well after that whole thing was settled, I found out something about Capsule Corp." Gohan made sure one more time that Trunks was OK with him divulging this secret to his friends. "Capsule Corp. is actually only affiliated with the Cold empire on the surface. Underground there is a huge anti-Frieza complex. They showed me this place where they have people training, and new weapons developing just for the purpose of liberating earth from the Cold Empire."

Haru looked shocked. From what he'd heard Capsule Corp. was a source behind much of the entire empire's arsenal, "So what about all the weapons supplied to Frieza by Capsule Corp.?"

"Those are actually between five to seven years behind in development compared to what we actually have." Trunks informed the two.

"This brings us to what I found out next, you see, my parents used to be really close to the people who run Capsule Corp. They were practically raised together. Trunks is even a halfer like me." Haru nodded his head in understanding while Rowdy looked confused and was about to ask when Haru shushed him with a look that just said I'll tell you later.

"So I know I'm different, but because I met them now I know I'm not the only one who's different. I've been thinking about this all day and last night… and even what you said last night Haru, I think I understand. I have to help fight against Frieza anyway I can, and the place I can do that the most is with Capsule Corp."

Trunks was the one who looked confused for a bit, but then once Gohan's words sank in he smiled.

Gohan looked down at the floor, "But that means… I'm going to be gone for a while…"

Haru stood and took a few steps closer to Gohan to place his hand on his shoulder, "We understand Gohan, you need to be where you do the most good, and that's with them right now. Just promise you'll come visit, ok?"

Gohan looked up and nodded at Haru through his smile, "Thanks Haru, and sorry for all the trouble lately…"

"Don't sweat it," Haru grinned evilly, "Anything for Monkey Boy, savior of the universe!"

Gohan gave Haru a disapproving look, but couldn't keep the stern face together for long because of how Haru was cracking up.

The four of them spoke for a while longer, Haru helped fill Rowdy in on the little "secret" Gohan had been holding for so long. Once Rowdy heard about "it" he wouldn't shut up until Gohan finally showed him his tail also.

Rowdy was intrigued by it for a whole minute before Gohan finally put it away and tucked it back in his pants. Gohan didn't notice Trunks watching his tail with great interest as well.

With a final goodbye, Haru and Rowdy hugged Gohan before he left with Trunks. The two sat on the dome train as it returned to West City.

"Umm… I'm sorry Trunks…" Gohan said after quite a bit of silence on the ride.

"For what?" Trunks looked at him funny.

"Well… for leaving so abruptly the other day, not letting you know or anything…"

"Oh… that…" Gohan looked down at the floor, Trunks didn't sound too happy, but quickly added anyway, "Don't sweat it Gohan, I forgive ya!" He smiled to his young friend, "I am pretty happy still you decided to come back," Trunks put his arm around Gohan's shoulder.

"It took a lot of thought, trust me, but I think this is for the best for everyone…" Gohan looked very thoughtful; Trunks could tell there were a lot of things he was weighing out in his decision.

Trunks nodded to him, "With you with us, things are going to be great, just watch! Things are going to change around here, and change for the better!"

Gohan smiled up at Trunks and nodded. He had a new goal now, and that was to train hard, and be ready to do anything he could to free the earth. He would work hard to be the super hero everyone needs.

**End Chapter**


	5. Hit the Floor

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

Chapter 5: Hit the Floor

Trunks awoke the next day and stared at the ceiling. He'd just woken up from one heck of a dream… His eyes shot open as he jumped out of bed, barely pulled on a pair of pants and ran across the hall. He punched in the access code to the door in front of him as fast as he could and checked inside.

A sigh of relief escaped Trunks' lips as he saw Gohan still sleeping soundly on the bed they'd made for him. Trunks smiled to himself as he lingered and just watched Gohan for a few more moments. Gohan was sprawled across the entire bed, the sheets in a complete disarray, he looked possessive of the space he wasn't used to having if that was possible while you're sleeping. Trunks saved the image of Gohan clad only in a pair of sky blue boxers in that position to memory.

It came as a shock to him yesterday really… Trunks remembered he was just overcome with this desire to find Gohan and talk to him. Then he remembered he could track the lab equipment that was stolen, so he followed it hoping it would lead him to Gohan… He never even made a plan or thought of what he would say once he found Gohan, but fortunately for him, he didn't have to say anything. He showed up, and it was as if Gohan had already made up his mind he was coming back. Not that Trunks minded the decision, he was so happy Gohan was going to be around, he had to be careful not to act over excited around him.

Gohan began to roll a little in his sleep so Trunks decided to leave him be before Gohan woke up and caught him staring at him. Trunks went back to his room suddenly much more relaxed. He hopped lightly onto his bed, rolled over, and hugged his body pillow. Oh how he wished it was Gohan he was hugging right now. But just having him there gave Trunks hope, that maybe, just maybe things could be like that.

Trunks thoughts went back to the dream he was having. He had Gohan nearly naked in a large hot tub, and was rubbing slick warm oil all over his body. It was something he'd really like to try he thought. Trunks pulled the covers back over his body as he tried to continue his dream. He slid his pants off under the covers.

In his dream he'd moved to nipping at Gohan's neck, and was running his hand along Gohan's thigh underwater. Gohan had his arms wrapped around him and was slightly moaning. Trunks moved in and pressed his lips hard against Gohan's. The kiss they shared made them meld into one.

Trunks stuffed his head into his pillow and his hand began sliding up and down his stiff member. He was still clinging tight to his body pillow, imagining it to be Gohan. His own hand actually felt better today than it normally did.

In his dream, Trunks was pushing his hand inside the front of the small pair of trunks Gohan was wearing, his fingers fondling the prize that awaited within. Gohan's own hands slid further down his bare back, into his shorts as well, slightly squeezing each cheek.

Trunks' breathing hitched, coming in raspy, as he continued stroking at an incredible speed. His hips moved with his strokes, creating friction against his pillow which lay between his legs.

This continued for a few more minutes until Trunks felt he was close, very close to that release he was searching for. An odd sensation came over Trunks, and something made him look over his shoulder. Trunks eyes widened as he saw Gohan standing in the doorway of his room.

Gohan had been staring out of shock and surprise for a minute, but once he noticed he'd been caught, a deep blush came to his face as he quickly turned around and side stepped to the other room with his back against the wall, "I'm sorry!" Gohan called, "I didn't mean to interrupt you…" Gohan practically slapped himself, realizing how embarrassed he'd feel if someone told him that if he was caught in the same situation.

Trunks face was a bright red, as he quickly pulled his shorts and pants back up. He'd been under the covers so he knew Gohan didn't actually see him… but it was kind of hard not to tell what he was doing. There was no way he could deny it.

Trunks walked out of his room and found Gohan still with his back up against the wall, "Good morning," Trunks said a little flushed and nervous.

"Morning…" Gohan sounded uncomfortable. Trunks looked Gohan up and down, he was wearing a pair of loose pants like he was and that was about it. Gohan's skin was a few shades more tanned than Trunks' own from living on the surface all his life, and Trunks found the look irresistible. Trunks would have kept staring at Gohan, but realized the silence wasn't helping how uncomfortable Gohan was feeling.

Trunks knew he had to do something to break the ice again, "Sorry about that, kind of a morning ritual, ha!" Gohan almost cracked a smile, but remained as focused on the floor as he could, "I know, how about we get breakfast, I'm pretty hungry!" Trunks stated.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too, that's a good idea," Gohan said smiling but still not meeting Trunks eyes.

Trunks took Gohan over to the kitchen and gave an order to the serve bots, "Two plates of thirty flapjacks please!"

Gohan's eyes widened, "Thirty?!" Trunks winked at him.

A couple of plates slid down the conveyer, each with a two foot tall stack of thick hardy pancakes. Trunks took the plates and went to go sit in the dining area as Gohan followed close behind.

"Thanks," Gohan said still perplexed as Trunks set the food down on the table.

"Dig in!" Trunks began to slice through his food and really scarf it down.

Gohan looked at the huge pile of food, but started eating thinking there was no way he could finish this no matter how hungry he was. He proved himself wrong about five minutes later while surprisingly not being completely overly stuffed or bloated.

"Wow! That was good!" Gohan exclaimed.

"You looked like you hadn't had a good Saiyan sized meal in a while, I thought you could use it." Trunks smiled across the table.

Gohan's head tilted, "Saiyan sized?"

"Yeah," Trunks nodded, "Saiyans are supposed to eat a LOT more than normal humans, we have a much faster metabolism," Trunks explained.

Gohan nodded, understanding that's why he was always still hungry after eating all his rations, but after a while he had just gotten used to being hungry.

"So what do you usually do during the day around here Trunks?" Gohan asked, his earlier timidity forgotten.

"Well normally after breakfast I get my morning workout, so care to join me today?" Trunks offered.

"Sure, I guess, that'd be great!" Gohan smiled.

Trunks laughed and took their plates back over to the conveyer belt so they could be taken back to the kitchen to be washed. "Great, then let's go!"

Trunks lead Gohan back to the main hall of the complex and down a few levels to the training areas. Gohan's eyes widened as he noticed that Trunks was opening one of the gravity chambers.

Trunks noticed Gohan's anxiety and decided to test him, "Oh yeah, you're not used to these kind of workouts, want to start with something easier first?"

Gohan shook his head, "No I'm sure I'll be alright!" Gohan bounced from one foot to the other to demonstrate he was light on his feet.

Trunks grinned to himself as he opened the door and lead Gohan inside. He shut the door behind them and twisted the lock bolt to secure the room. "Before I turn the gravity up, it's a good idea to stretch our muscles first.

Gohan nodded and sank on his outstretched leg, making sure he was good and loose and ready for what was coming. He put one arm behind his head and pulled reading his arm muscles also.

Trunks couldn't help but sneak glances at Gohan's upper torso as he stretched, and took memory shots of the little details. About twenty minutes later Trunks finally looked over at Gohan and asked, "Ready?"

Gohan nodded, "Definitely!"

Trunks chuckled to himself as he wondered what he should set the gravity of the room to. He figured ten times gravity would be the best start for someone who's strong but never experienced outside normal gravity. But a sudden sadistic streak made him want to see what would happen at twenty-five times gravity. He knew that wasn't deadly for Saiyans so he turned it up to twenty-five and hit the activate command.

The hue of the room turned a reddish color, and Gohan watched as the different devices of the room came alive. He was filled with anticipation but was still taken by surprise when his body suddenly weighed over a ton. He almost fell right over but managed to catch himself on his bent knee. His breathing hitched as he pushed himself to stand up straight.

Trunks eyebrow raised as he saw Gohan assume a stance and hold it. It reminded him of pictures he'd seen of ancient monks who would stand still like that for days. Gohan held that pose for another few minutes when suddenly his eyes flew open and he made a swift back flip, pushed himself up into the air, and made several shadowboxing punches and kicks before landing again.

Trunks was truly impressed. Even though he could easily handle twice this much gravity, he had to build up to it very gradually. Yet at twenty-five times the gravity of normal earth Gohan was still able to move on his first time!

"Wow, this is pretty hard!" Gohan wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Yeah, and it only gets harder from here!" Trunks encouraged.

Gohan nodded, "I bet!" Gohan fell forward and caught himself on his palms. He got into a pushup position, pushed himself halfway up and froze.

"You OK there Gohan?" Trunks asked

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Gohan replied, sounding a little strained, but not in pain.

Trunks finally sat his specially reinforced workout bench and started lifting weights. He was at it for over half an hour when he looked back over to check on Gohan again and noticed he was still in just about the exact same position as before.

"Gohan?" Trunks asked.

"Yeah?" Gohan replied immediately.

"What are you doing?"

Gohan pushed himself over, and rolled onto his back. His breathing was hard and he brushed sweat off his brow again, "Training."

"OK… but how?" Trunk looked at Gohan confused.

"Endurance training, it's the only way I'm used to I guess… It's a lot easier to endurance train without raising your energies to be noticeable than to be more physical."

"But you don't have worry about being detected here," Trunks cocked his head to the side.

"There's more to it than that… and I'm also just used to training that way" Gohan thought about it as he stared at the ceiling.

Trunks shrugged it off and continued his weight lifting. He saw Gohan assume many positions and just hold them for long periods of time. After a few hours had passed Trunks put the weights back on the stand and sat up. The workout hadn't been as intense as it normally was for him, but he still worked up a good sweat.

When he looked over at Gohan, he could have sworn it almost looked like he was meditating; he had the majority of his weight supported on one leg under him, while the other was outstretched forward. His arms were in position accordingly to keep his balance.

"Hey Gohan!" Trunks called. Gohan's eye opened and he looked over in Trunks' direction. "Let's take a break for a while, I'm getting pretty hot in here."

"OK!" Gohan stood up and worked the soreness of his workout out of his muscles while Trunks shut off the gravity machine. "So what now?" Gohan asked once the gravity was normal again.

Trunks opened the door up, "I have an idea, follow me!"

"K!" Gohan called obediently following Trunks through the complex.

Trunks took him deeper into the training area, past the door that lead to the vehicle training range. They came to another set of double doors and pushed through them revealing a huge indoor swimming pool setup.

"Awesome!" Gohan walked over to the pool and looked at how clean it was.

"There's a room over there with some towels and swimming trunks you can use." Trunks held the door open for Gohan as he went in to change. Trunks had been hoping to get the chance to watch Gohan change, but Gohan went up and down different aisles looking for swimming trunks that would fit him. Trunks quickly changed while Gohan was on the other side of the clothes racks. He decided to wait for Gohan outside of the changing room, and just a minute later Gohan came running out in a pair of black board shorts, jumped high into the air, and made a cannonball right into the pool. Trunks laughed and waited a second for Gohan's head to pop out of the water before doing the same thing and making a big splash right next to him.

"Hey!" Gohan shouted as Trunks came back up and splashed him.

Trunks laughed and splashed back.

"Oh is that a challenge?" Gohan asked hoping the answer would be yes.

"Maybe," Trunks replied.

"Close enough!" Gohan waved his arm through the water making a big splash fly into Trunks. Trunks laughed and splashed Gohan back, and that was all it took for war to break out. The two were causing huge waves of water when Trunks deceptively threw yet another splash then dived under the water's surface and swam towards his target.

Gohan was shielding his face from the water when he was tackled and dragged underwater. They wrestled underwater, at first each trying to pin the other, until Trunks got the idea to play dirty and started tickling Gohan's stomach. Gohan wasn't expecting the tickle torture treatment and coughed out the air in his lungs by reflex and then had to swim back up to the surface.

Gohan's head broke through the surface and he took a deep breath, before laughing from the aftereffects of it all. Trunks slowly floated to the surface also and laughed along with Gohan.

Gohan made a playful punch at Trunks head, "Cheater!" Trunks rubbed his head still giggling.

Gohan's smile slowly faded from his face and he turned around and swam for away a bit. Trunks caught the sudden change in attitude and swam after him.

"Hey, what happened? What's wrong Gohan?" Trunks asked after he caught up to him.

Gohan sighed deeply, "I. just feel guilty I guess…"

"How come?" Trunks asked immediately.

"Well, I mean here we are having fun in a big beautiful pool while people outside are suffering… it just doesn't seem right…" Gohan sighed.

Trunks moved to Gohan's side and put his arm around his shoulder, "You're thinking of your friends right?" Gohan nodded in response.

Trunks moved his face into Gohan's site to catch his eyes, "Don't go thinking that everything here is fun and games, we're going to train REALLY hard too. We need to get a lot stronger than we are now, but we're going to work hard and do it. Think of this fun stuff as the reward for working so hard to fight against Frieza. Once Frieza is taken out the rest of the world will get to enjoy nice things like this again too. So don't beat yourself up over it, you're going to do great things."

Gohan thought for a minute, "I'll try," he said with confidence.

"Good, now let's get back to work then!" Gohan looked at Trunks funny who quickly moved his free hand to tickle Gohan again while the arm he had around Gohan's shoulder held him firmly in place.

Gohan kicked and screamed while laughing but couldn't break free until Trunks finally called off the assault, "I'll get you for that one…" Gohan said still panting, "Just watch!"

Trunks gave Gohan a real feral grin and climbed out of the pool. Gohan's body shivered from the site after Trunks back was turned, and then quickly followed him out.

Trunks took Gohan back to the gravity room so they could train some more. He turned up the gravity past thirty to give Gohan a good work out, and sure enough about an hour later, he was sure the last traces of guilt Gohan still had on his face was replaced by determination.

A while later their training was interrupted by a beeping sound. Trunks hit a button on the pager he carried with him, "Trunks hun? How are you boys doing?"

"We're doing fine, just getting a good work out," Trunk winked at Gohan.

"I noticed! You have the room set past thirty on Gohan's first day! Shame on you! I thought you knew better! You could have hurt him!" Trunks winced a little from the scolding.

"Don't worry about me Bulma! I'm doing great! I actually wanted it up as high as I could take it, it helps me feel better," Gohan spoke up defending Trunks.

"Well… if you say so, just please be careful not to overdo it, anyway, why don't you guys call it a day and we can go have dinner?"

Before Trunks could answer Gohan called out, "Food! That'd be great!"

"Hahaha, nice to hear you're working up an appetite, I'll meet you two up in the dining room!" The pager went out and Trunks put it back in his pocket. Trunks was also happy to hear Gohan wanted food. He got his second look at just how thin Gohan was while they were swimming today. If he was any thinner it'd be downright unhealthy. He shut the gravity room off and they headed upstairs to meet with Bulma.

"My mom sounds like she loves you more than me already," Trunks joked with Gohan.

Gohan picked up on it and threw back, "Well who can blame her? I mean… who couldn't love this?" Gohan pointed to himself while making the most innocent looking puppy dog face he could muster.

"Oh don't make me puke!" Trunks gave him a playful push and they kept laughing.

"There you boys are!" Bulma greeted them at the entrance to the kitchen, she was already holding a plate of food, "Hurry and order, I have a lot I need to tell you two!"

"OK," Gohan turned to the servebot, "I'll have…" He looked through the list of things he could have, "Spaghetti and meatballs!"

The bot acknowledged him, and then Trunks ordered, "I'll have the same thing, just be sure to Saiyan size both those orders." Gohan gave Trunks a funny look, "Trust me," he laughed.

The two went to go sit by Bulma as their food was prepared, "So what is it you wanted to tell us mom?" Trunks asked as he sat.

Bulma sipped her soda, "Just that I'm a genius!" She smirked at the two.

"Well I already knew that, so at least now Gohan knows," Trunks said sarcastically, "Really now, what is it?"

"The GX-3200…" Trunks eyes widened and he nodded, "It works!" Bulma exclaimed.

"You're kidding?"

Gohan looked back and forth from the two of them confused, "What?"

Trunks put up his hand to pause the conversation long enough to explain, "The GX-3200 was a design we came up with about two years ago, it's pretty much a micro-sized, self-charging battery capable of producing power comparable to elite alien soldiers."

"Ahhh…" Gohan nodded.

"With the GX finally working, we can mass-produce them to make our mobile battle suits even more formidable! I'm positive with the GX in place, our soldiers will be capable of producing as much power as Dr. Gero's android and cybernetic procedures! The effects on our people will also be much less detrimental than being transformed into a machine for the rest of your life."

"I agree, I was never much of a fan of those," Trunks put in while Gohan was just astounded that they were talking about things he thought were only science fiction until a bit ago.

About then the servebot arrived with two gigantic plates of spaghetti and set them one down in front of both Gohan and Trunks. Gohan stared at the gigantic plate in awe, it looked big enough to feed at least two dozen people.

"Dig in!" Trunks chimed to him.

"This is way to much for me Trunks…" Gohan murmured while still staring at the food.

"This is a rare case of your eyes being smaller than your stomach, trust me, it will make sense after you eat a little," Trunks encouraged him.

Gohan scooped some up in his fork and brought it up to his mouth, he figured he should at least eat as much as he could. Before he knew it, he was shoveling the food down his throat. Coherent thought process stopped as he just ate.

Trunks chuckled to himself before joining in the feasting.

Bulma sat across the table and shook her head smiling at the two. Long since used to this, but still long since she'd seen more than her son eat like this. She had to wipe a tear from her eye as for a moment she saw the shadows of Goku and Vegeta on the other end of the table devouring everything in site.

After the food was done and the plates were removed, Gohan sat staring at the place the food had once been, "You OK?" Trunks asked him.

"Yeah…" Gohan replied.

"You're not still hungry are you?" Trunks chuckled.

A smile came across Gohan's face, "No… I'm not…"

After a few more minutes of chatting Bulma rose from the table, "I'm going to work a bit longer tonight, you two should probably hit the showers if you're not going to train any more, you can tell how hard a Saiyan has been working by the smells they produce.

Gohan looked down and blushed, "Don't be embarrassed about it Gohan! It's a good thing! You worked hard today!" Trunks cheered him on and they both got up and walked back to the residential quarters.

Gohan opened the door to his room, and Trunks followed him in. "Well I'm going to take your mom's advice still and shower, I don't want to be a walking stink bomb," His comments usually made Trunks laugh, but this time he barely got a chuckle out of him.

Gohan turned the light on in his bathroom, and was getting the water running when he realized that Trunks was just standing there, not doing or saying anything anymore. He looked over his shoulder to get a better view of Trunks and saw a strange expression on his face, "Trunks? What's wrong?"

Trunks turned and looked as if he were about to leave, but turned again and walked towards Gohan, "Gohan… There's something I need to tell you."

Gohan swallowed a little hard as Trunks approached. The look in his eyes had him nervous, "What is it Trunks?"

"I don't want you to take this the wrong way… I mean it's not wrong… I mean… I need to just say it, Gohan, you know I'm really happy to have you here, it makes me feel so great inside to have a friend around again."

Gohan sensed something in Trunks voice, "But?" he was compelled to say.

Trunks nodded, "But I have to tell you I had ulterior motives in bringing you here also."

Gohan tilted his head, "You mean the part about fighting against the Cold Empire?..."

"Not that either… Gohan… I have to tell you… From the moment I saw you again, after our fight and when you were floating in the rejuvenation tank… I felt so bad hurting you Gohan, so horribly angry at myself for doing such a thing to my friend… that it made me realize… Gohan… I realized that I love you."

Gohan's eyes widened and he stuttered… "…How… How do you mean that…?"

"In every sense of the word… I love you, and… I want you to let me show you how much I love you," Trunks stared into Gohan's eyes. Gohan didn't reply at all, only stared back.

Trunks slowly got closer, their faces inched together as Trunks closed the gap. In a final brave move, Trunks pressed his lips against Gohan's and they shared in each other's first kiss.

Trunks hands snaked around Gohan's waist as the kiss deepened. Their mouths opened and Trunks tongue entered Gohan's mouth. Trunks' hands finally found the end of Gohan's shirt and they moved under it, feeling the bare flesh of Gohan's back.

(Scene removed due to site policy.)

"Thank you Gohan. Please don't feel weird if you don't want to… but like I said, I'd love to do this with you again. It's up to you though." Gohan's wide eyes never left Trunks', he merely nodded his response.

Trunks chuckled, "Good… Well… I'll let you get to your bath then, you know where to find me," again Gohan nodded. Trunks smiled and walked out to the bedroom to change back to his clothes.

Gohan sank into the water and splashed his face. He couldn't believe his heart was still pounding. He kept thinking while he was bathing, and his bath turned into the longest bath he'd ever taken.

End Chapter


	6. Easier to Run

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

What have we today? First off the reviews!

Thanks to Crocodile for the only review from so far! It seemed like a good idea at the time. ()b

Anyway, so who thinks Gohan should accept Trunks little proposal? If you've made it this far I would think a good deal of you (oO) Anyway, enough talk, on to the story, please R&R!

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Easier to Run

Gohan found himself aimlessly wondering the Capsule Complex. He'd already had breakfast, which was even more than the day before, and now he was just looking for something to keep his mind occupied.

His first thought to keep himself busy was to train. He headed for the training wing. He walked through the hall and found one of the gravity rooms. He walked right in without giving it too much thought until he approached the control panel for the gravitron. One look at it and he was already confused. Not only confused, but worried that foolishly playing with the thing might set it off to a thousand times normal gravity or something.

The door behind him opened and he jumped around startled.

"Whoa kid, sorry didn't mean to scare you." The one who had been introduced to him as Yamcha apologized. The other one, Tien walked in behind him.

"We're you two going to use the room?" Gohan asked.

"We were," Tien sounded rather cold, then Yamcha elbowed him, and all three eyes widened, "But we don't mind sharing, really," he added.

"Umm… OK…" Gohan wasn't sure what to think of them yet.

Yamcha walked over to the control panel, "We might be at different gravity training strengths still, what do you train at Gohan?"

Gohan thought for a minute, "Actually, anything would be alright, but I'm not even sure how to work this thing."

"Ahh I see, Well let me show you then," Yamcha reached for the controls, "In order to get it going you have to hit the button that says "set" first," Yamcha pressed the button and the machine started humming, "It takes a minute to warm up, then you use the keypad to type in the amount of gravity you want, it's all in relation to how many more times the gravity of that of earth that you want it. I'll go ahead and set it to fifteen." Yamcha pressed the buttons on the pad, "As a safety precaution, after you tell it once, you press confirm, and hit the same thing again, if you punch in two different gravity settings it will reset, then you just hit activate." He pressed it and the room's hue turned red, "Now just brace yourself, cause here it comes.

The room's gravity became fifteen times stronger than it had been a moment earlier. Yamcha gritted his teeth as he strained to keep his balance. "So what do you think kid?"

Gohan fell forward and landed on his palms. Yamcha and Tien were concerned for a moment until he pushed himself vertical and pointed his legs straight up. He held that position for a moment and slowly started pushing his entire body up and down.

"I think he's alright," Yamcha said watching him.

"Yeah… no doubt…" Tien was equally impressed at the boy's apparent strength.

Gohan shifted his weight and balanced himself on one hand and then held that position. "So what do you guys do once you're in here?"

"Workout and spar a little mainly," Yamcha answered.

"Cool…" The first signs of sweat began to form on Gohan's brow.

Tien picked up a few weights off the floor and got to work. Yamcha soon followed with the dumbbells. Every few minutes they would look over to see Gohan still hadn't moved an inch. He almost scared them when over an hour later he suddenly switched hands.

Gohan finally decided he needed to break the silence around here, "So could you guys tell me a little bit about yourselves, how'd you know my dad?"

Yamcha laughed, "Man, I ran into your dad back when he was about six or seven years old. Bulma, Vegeta and him came through my territory looking for Dragon Balls, and I decided I would get in their way since I had a wish I wanted to be granted also. Little did I know at the time that Vegeta had a fuse to his temper about as long as Tien's hair. He might have even killed me, but it was your dad who held Vegeta back telling him he shouldn't hurt me… Made me feel like a real wimp at the time. I found out later Vegeta had a soft spot when it came to Bulma or your dad, he bent for them where he'd pound through anything else. And that was Goku for you too, he was the nice guy, always played the hero and peacekeeper. I mean, when we were young, Vegeta was always the one who would rush in and beat everyone up… But there were a few times that things got even too out of control for him, and then Goku would always explode with some unheard of power and save the day." Yamcha chuckled, "That's just how it always was."

"Heh, though I have to agree with Yamcha now, my first impression of Goku was much different. For a long time I couldn't stand him. It was all because of pride I guess, but he dealt me my first big defeat in the martial arts world. I'd trained so hard to be as strong as I was, then out of nowhere a boy with a tail emerged and fought me with strengths that proved to be beyond my own. And even though I started pushing myself even harder, and was getting stronger, Goku's strength rose exponentially, and after a short time I wasn't even a challenge to him anymore."

"Hey, stop feeling sorry for yourself," Yamcha quirked in.

"I'm just being honest, it's how I felt in the beginning, things changed though, something about Goku… I had to force myself to hate him, because in actuality, I really admired him. He was a great man, truly talented, and so selfless, he'd give up everything for a total stranger."

Gohan realized that these two had both once been his father's enemies, but that they'd been converted into close allies. It struck him somewhere, he sniffed and a tear fell from his eye faster than he could wipe at it collected with the sweat below him.

After another moment of staring at the floor below him, Gohan's eyes refocused, a totally determined look came over him as he pushed off with one arm, flipped in the air, and landed firmly on his feet, "So either of you up for a spar?"

Yamcha and Tien gave each other a look before Tien set his weights down, "I'll take you up on that… grapple match?"

Gohan nodded to Tien, "Sure."

Yamcha set his dumbbells aside and got to a good vantage position to watch the match from.

Tien assumed his normal stance with his knees bent and his arms outstretched. Gohan, already being the shorter of the two by far, ducked into a stance that kept him even closer to the floor.

The two slowly inched closer to each other, no one's eyes blinked, then Tien threw the first strike. Yamcha's eyes widened as Gohan caught Tien's fist and flipped his entire body around Tien's arm building up enough momentum and inertia to lift Tien up by the same arm and fling him into the wall. Tien hit the wall upside down and slid down. "You OK Tien?" Yamcha laughed as he called.

Tien gave Yamcha a "shut up" look as he stood back up. Tien and Gohan nodded to each other and began again. This time Gohan had to block Tien's fast charge, their forearms made contact and they just pushed against each other. Tien thought for sure he had the advantage, he was pushing down in a room filled with much higher than normal gravity. In quick boost however, Gohan was able to throw Tien's arm up away from him, back flipped onto his hands and pushed forward launching a full kick toward Tien's torso. The kick made contact and pushed Tien back, but Tien recovered before completion and grabbed both of Gohan's ankles then threw him into a side spin.

Gohan landed on both open palms and tried to take Tien by surprise with a leg sweep. Tien actually saw it coming and jumped over it, before he was able to move again though Gohan leapt upward with an uppercut. Tien took the full force of that attack but countered with a roundhouse which Gohan blocked with his arm.

The next few moments turned into a rush of attacks and blocks. Tien threw his hands out and was able to push Gohan away by the abdomen. With his hands still outstretched Tien shouted as he released a power beam. The room filled with light as Tien's beam fired at near point blank range. Yamcha's eyes widened again thinking Tien might have taken things a little too far.

As the light faded Tien searched the smoke for Gohan only to hear a quick buzz above him. Gohan landed upside down, a hand on each of Tien's shoulders, and with a kick of his weight lifted Tien forward, flung him around, and belly flopped him onto the floor. The impact actually made Yamcha's dumbbells fall of their rack.

Gohan knelt down by Tien, "Are you OK Mr. Tien?"

Tien groaned, "I don't think I'm going to be able to move at all tomorrow…"

Yamcha smiled, "Wow that was something else…"

Tien slowly climbed to his feet, "Yeah… I give… you Saiyans are just unbelievable." Tien rubbed his sore shoulder.

Gohan looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry Mr. Tien, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Tien started laughing, "I think that comment alone hurts more than the beating did. Don't sweat it kid… but if you guys don't mind I think I'm going to call it quits for a while today."

Yamcha nodded and Tien walked over to the gravitron to shut it off so he could open the main hatch. "See you guys later!" Tien limped out.

"I think I'm going to take a break for a bit too," Yamcha got up from the bench and walked out, "We need to do this again sometime soon, K Gohan?"

Gohan nodded, "Right!"

Yamcha smiled and walked off.

Gohan stood in the room a bit longer debating whether or not to use it a little more just himself, but decided against it for now and just wondered the halls.

He stared up at the bright lights of the long winding hallway. Usually he'd be wandering through here with Trunks, but today he had so much on his mind to sort out, he'd been kind of avoiding the guy.

Gohan sighed still not sure what he was supposed to do, what he was supposed to like or love or anything. It was all a concept he'd never given much thought to before, and now he was left confused and a little scared.

His thoughts continued until his feet brought him to the door that lead to the main lab at the bottom of the complex. He knew he couldn't talk to Bulma about _that_ but he thought it might help to talk to her anyway.

Gohan pushed the door open and floated himself down the working floor. There were lots of lab-coated scientists walking around working on one thing or another. Gohan was still amazed at all the sci-fi looking gadgets that filled the room. All against one wall were a bunch of different mech armor looking things and tons of different pieces for them spread along the ground. Across the way he could see different models of fighter jets or maybe they could have been space fighters even.

While he was busy looking at all the contraptions he was almost startled when he heard yelling, "YOU FOOL! BE MORE CAREFUL WITH THAT!"

Gohan jumped and turned around. He saw an old man with long hair and a beard and mustache. He was standing over what looked like hospital beds with the sheets all pulled over people. He was yelling at someone who dropped something that looked like a really high-tech pump.

Gohan's curiosity got the better of him, he bit his lower lip as he slowly crept over to one of the beds to try and peak under the sheets. He lifted the sheet from the side and looked in. His eyes widened as he saw a huge man with a bright red Mohawk. He was clad in some kind of grey armor.

"What the hell are you doing in there?!" an angry voice sounded behind him. Gohan pulled out from inside the sheet and saw the old man staring right at him, "Well? And who the hell are you anyway?"

"I was just looking, honest! I didn't mess with anything! My name is Son Gohan." Gohan didn't know why he was this nervous, the guy was just giving him the creeps.

The man took a step closer to Gohan and put a hand on the boy's face using his fingers to pull his eye lids open and looked into his eyes. "You're the son of Son Goku?"

Gohan nodded as best he could with the man's hand on his face, "Yes."

The man scoffed as he let go of his hold on Gohan and turned to go back to work without saying anything else.

Gohan felt a little put off but didn't say anything about it. His attention was still on the amount of hospital beds around that appeared to have bodies under draped sheets. "Are they all dead?" he asked.

The old man looked at the boy again, but said nothing for a long moment, "No, they are not dead, they are undergoing a stage of cybernetic transformation."

Gohan cocked his head to the side, "Cybernetic Transformation?"

The man was starting to look a little miffed, "When they awake they will be cybernetic life forms I refer to as Androids."

A young man in a lab coat and glasses came running over to them with a clipboard, "I have the data you requested Dr. Gero."

"About time…" Dr Gero looked it over, a discerning look on his face, "This is no good, the new output is only 27 higher than the last time… There has to be a way to push more out of these power cells."

Gohan still didn't feel comfortable, he felt no life from any of these "androids" and wasn't quite sure how this whole thing worked… Though he wanted to know more he decided to leave Dr. Gero alone for the time being.

Gohan continued walking around the lab area looking for Bulma. This place was huge and he was starting to think he was going to have to start asking for her if he wanted to see her today when he caught glimpse of a familiar blue hairstyle. Several other people were talking to Bulma, and she looked deep in thought. She finally said something and waved her hand. The others around her nodded and she started walking away from them.

Gohan smiled and started following her. She didn't seem to notice Gohan and walked over to a large black steel door marked "No Admittance". She slid a card into the reader by the door and punched in a few numbers. The door opened and she hurried in.

Gohan thought about it for a second, then the door started to close, so he charged in. He hoped Bulma wouldn't be mad but he needed to talk to her. With the door closed this hallway was very dark. Gohan followed it down slowly. Suddenly an eerie feeling came over him, an anxiety rush that caused his tail to fluff. He felt something totally strange down here.

The dark hall seemed to go further and further down. Gohan was sure Bulma had said the only thing under the lab was the main power generator for the complex. Maybe she was going to work on it was the only thing that crossed his mind. Once the hallway flattened out he started hearing voices.

"..and so now they think this instability could cause the whole unit to explode if the coil is punctured. I was so excited hoping to finally put it into production… but now I'm just not sure it's a good idea." Gohan heard Bulma's voice say.

"So? Are you just going to give up on this then? Do you honestly believe there's no way that you can fix this "instability" of yours entirely?" A much deeper gruff voice spoke back to her.

"Of course not! There's nothing I can't fix, it's just that it's going to take a lot longer than I was hoping it would now," Bulma spoke with more confidence this time.

"And a minor setback isn't something to be overly concerned with then, so stop your stressing Onna!" Gohan peeked over the end of the hall and saw a room with a greenish hue glow. In the center of the room stood Bulma in front of some kind of control panel, in front of her was some kind of round holographic projector and a wire framed head with tall spiky hair floating between the two projector pads.

"And how are the cubs?" the head asked.

Bulma laughed, "It's so nice to have them both here, you should see them, they get along very well."

"How strong is Cackarot's brat?" Gohan's eyes widened, the head was talking about him?

"I'm actually not sure, you know how they are, it's impossible to get an accurate reading with any type of scanning device on you Saiyans, you're always stronger than the readings show. You'll have a good idea yourself once your new sensors are operational."

"Hmph…" This computer sure didn't seem to be very friendly Gohan thought, "You know I mean you no offense when I say they are the only true hope left for this planet…"

Bulma sighed, "I know Vegeta… But I'll be damned if I don't do something to help them… I can't let them face what's coming alone, just like old times remember? I may have never been as strong as you, but I was never useless…" Bulma sounded like she was beginning to tear up.

"I know Onna… I know…" A tear finally fell from Bulma's eye, "Be strong Bulma, for me… I don't have a body to show you my affections anymore, but believe me when I say I do still love you. You are all the family left for our son and the son of Cackarot, you must be strong."

Gohan couldn't believe that the floating head was actually Vegeta… Trunks' dad… "Uncle Vegeta"… but he was supposed to have died ten years ago. Gohan wanted to know even more now, but he knew this wasn't a good time. He backed away hoping to remain unnoticed. He backed right into a wall which he was unaware doubled as some kind of control panel that activated on his touch. The panel made a few "bleep" noises as it turned on, and the light flooded the dark hallway.

"Someone's here!" Vegeta's holographic head called.

Gohan gritted his teeth and slapped his head, a fine job at being stealth indeed…

"Who's there?! Come out this instant!" Bulma called into the hall. Gohan knew it was no use hiding and there was no getting around this so he slowly walked out from the darkness. Bulma's eyes widened, "Gohan!"

Bulma found herself in quite the predicament and was going through several emotions at once. She had managed to keep the contents of this room a secret even from Trunks for the last ten years. She didn't know whether to be shocked, upset, or maybe even a little angry. She took a moment to compose herself to keep those emotions from emerging though.

"Gohan… What are you doing here?" Bulma finally asked.

Gohan gulped, "I came to your lab looking for you… I found you in time to see you walk through the big door in the lab above, so I followed you in…" Gohan hoped that would suffice for the time being.

Bulma slapped her forehead for being so careless.

"Is that… Vegeta?" Gohan pointed at the hologram.

Bulma nodded, "For the most part…"

"How?" Gohan looked up at the hologram.

"Stop staring boy!" Vegeta demanded.

Gohan turned his gaze to Bulma, "What is going on?"

Bulma looked to the floor in thought for a moment and finally decided she might as well explain all this, Gohan was a smart boy, he'd understand. "It was ten years ago that Frieza arrived on earth, the Saiyans and the Z-Fighters all went to try and stop him. In the end Frieza killed them all… Frieza used his energy to disintegrate Nappa, your uncle Raditz, and your dad to ashes. He made Vegeta watch it all and killed his body by snapping his neck. I found Vegeta there lifeless… and I was horrified by it all, I couldn't believe what had happened… I always thought Vegeta and Goku together were invincible… I was almost completely overcome with grief until the defibrillator read Vegeta was still showing signs of brain activity. I did the only thing I could to save him… I resurrected the forbidden technology developed by Dr. Willow to attach his brain to a computer. This is the result, the core computer for Capsule Underground, directly attached to the geothermal plant below us, and the remains of Vegeta's living brain tissue." Bulma turned on more light in the room to make the other computer components visible. High in the center of it all was a tank with a brain floating in it.

Gohan looked on in awe, at the sophisticated equipment that made it all up, and finally at the electrodes all attached to the still living brain. "So everything Vegeta was is still here?"

A low grumble sound was heard coming from Vegeta's holographic projection. "There was still some tissue decay that happened before the system was able to fully take over, so sometimes things come out… fuzzy… but other than that, yes," Bulma answered.

Gohan continued to look at it for a moment, "If the brain is still in tact and alive… why keep it attached to a computer? Why not have Dr. Gero make an android body for it?"

This time a growl came from the hologram and a few sparks and bubbles crackled through the brain tank. Bulma cleared her throat and the sparking stopped, "Dr. Gero… He's the only other person that knows about Vegeta being in this state, believe me we tried… but the android process just wasn't compatible with a Saiyan DNA stream."

The look on Gohan's face saddened, "Gosh… And Gero is the _only _one? What about Trunks?"

"You will not divulge what you have seen here today to anyone, including my son!" The hologram spoke demandingly.

Bulma shook her head, "Vegeta's pride made it in there with him, he doesn't want anyone else to see him in this _condition_ and I think it would probably cause Trunks more grief than help him also… I wouldn't want to see Trunks become obsessed in finding a way to help Vegeta like I was for so long…"

Gohan looked down at the ground, a saddened look still on his face, "Don't worry Gohan, thing's are fine this way," Bulma told him already knowing what he was feeling."

"He's alright Onna, he's not crying," the two of them both gave Vegeta a "shut up" look. "What? You think I don't remember how much of a crybaby you were when you were little?"

Gohan shook his head, "OK I believe you that he's fine."

Bulma laughed, "Come on then, I'll take you out."

Gohan nodded, "I'll see you later then Vegeta!" Gohan waved to the holographic head that made a sour look after that statement.

Bulma lead Gohan back up the dark hallway and opened the door to the lab, "So what was it you were looking for me for in the first place?" she asked him.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it…" Gohan looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear them, "After seeing you and Vegeta though, I just wanted to say even with everything that's happened you can see how much you two still love each other… it's really sweet Bulma…"

Bulma wiped another tear from her eye, "Thanks Gohan… It's hard sometimes… but that Vegeta never gives up either…"

"It makes it easier sometimes to still have him there for you when you need him doesn't it?" Gohan asked.

Bulma nodded, "It does…" she smiled.

"Then as long as that's the case, it's all worth it," Gohan smiled back, "I'm going to go have lunch, so I'll see you later!" he waved and ran back to the main hallway.

Bulma shook her head, "Just like his father…"

Gohan walked out of the dining room after devouring another Saiyan sized serving and was nice and full again. He was so content with the meal that he didn't notice who was around him until he heard, "Gohan! There you are!"

Gohan's eyes widened as he heard Trunks approaching. In a panic he looked around hoping some excuse to leave would dawn on him.

"Hey Gohan!" Trunks stopped right next to him, "What have you been doing today? I haven't seen you!"

"Oh I've been real busy! Training real hard, seeing new cool things, you know…" Gohan was audibly nervous, and Trunks picked up on it.

"OK… so what are you doing now?"

"Oh I've still got lots to do, so I better get to them! I'll see you later then Trunks!" Gohan waved and started to walk off.

"Hold up, what kind of stuff are you still going to do?" Trunks stopped him.

"Umm… I was uhhh… going to go train some more right now," perfect excuse Gohan thought.

"Oh great! I'll come with you!" Crap…

"There's no need really! I'm sure you'd much rather train at higher gravity levels than I can anyway," Gohan tried to sound convincing but wasn't working.

Trunks was beginning to have enough of these antics, "No really, any setting would be fine for me right now."

"Oh well… ummm…" Gohan mentally slapped himself as this path of excuses had reached a dead end.

Trunks grabbed Gohan by the shoulder, "Come here."

"Huh?" Gohan was confused as he was being dragged back through the residential wing and towards Trunks' room. Trunks opened the door, and pulled Gohan inside, "Trunks wait!"

Trunks shut the door behind them, took a moment to look Gohan over, and finally sighed, "Gohan… Have you been… _avoiding_ me today?"

Gohan couldn't make eye contact with Trunks, "I…"

"Just tell me Gohan…" Gohan still looked to the floor, closed his eyes and nodded. Trunks sighed, "…Why? Is it because of yesterday?"

"It's… well… you see…" Gohan stammered.

Trunks fell to his knees in front of Gohan, "Gohan… I told you no matter what… I don't want to stop being your friend, even if you never return the feelings I have for you that's fine with me… I just don't want you to stay away from me completely…" Trunks eyes were almost welling up, he looked very hurt. Gohan's gaze was finally focused on Trunks face. That hurt look… it hurt him too to see Trunks like that.

"Trunks… I… I…"

Trunks was quiet, waiting, "What Gohan?"

Finally Gohan broke… All the thoughts he'd been subduing came rushing to the surface all at once. He fell onto Trunks and started crying onto him, "Gohan?" Trunks whispered softly.

"I want to love you Trunks! I want to so bad… But…" he sniffed a little, "I've already lost everyone I ever really cared about… I don't think I could take going through that again…"

Trunks held Gohan tighter to him as Gohan continued his crying. Trunks knew Gohan had already lost both his parents, and he had no clue how many friends he may have lost on the street…

Finally he held Gohan out from him so he could look into his tear stained face, "Gohan listen to me! Right here and now I promise you… I will forever do my best to make sure nothing ever happens to either of us! I'll train even harder than before and I'll see to it that I can defend us from _anything_!"

A few more tears escaped Gohan's eyes, he understood this wasn't a false promise that _nothing_ would ever happen to him, but that he would always do his best to try.

As Gohan stared into Trunks face after that promise, he realized it whether he wanted to admit it or not… he was in love with Trunks. He continued to just stare into Trunks eyes, neither said anything.

Everything was silent for a long while. Trunks waited patiently as Gohan was obviously in the middle of a big mental debate. Finally a sly smirk came over Gohan, he leaned into Trunks and whispered, "Then seal your promise with a kiss." A shiver ran down Trunks spine as they wrapped their arms around the other and locked their lips together in a passionate kiss that spoke beyond desire. After a few moments when they separated from the kiss, Gohan rested his head on Trunks' chest, "I love you Trunks…"

A tear fell from Trunks' eye, "I love you too Gohan… forever…"

**End Chapter**


	7. Faint

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

Sorry this chapter took so long to post… and really sorry to all you guys who only get the cut version… there's like… nothing left! LMAO

Well if it's any consolation… the next chapter will hopefully be out soon.

Chapter 7: Faint

(Scene Removed)

Meanwhile several hundred feet below, "And with that adjustment they should be ready!" Bulma smiled to herself for getting the new sensors operating ahead of schedule.

The Vegeta head made a feint grunt of approval.

"Why don't you test them out to see how they work? See if you can locate Gohan or Trunks!" Bulma suggested eagerly.

"Alright…" The Vegeta head closed its' eyes and looked as if he was concentrating. "I think I can sense them…"

"Hurray! What else can you tell?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta's head made an interesting quiver motion, and then one eye slowly opened and looked oddly at Bulma.

"What is it?" Bulma asked concerned that something might be wrong.

The eye closed again in concentration, but soon the entire head shook again.

"Is something wrong?" Bulma asked growing more concerned.

"I don't know…" Vegeta said.

"Well what are you sensing?" Bulma looked over the settings again to make sure they were set up appropriately.

"I don't think you want to know…" Vegeta's eye twitched.

"Well I think you should tell me so I can see if something's wrong…" Bulma was cut off right before she could finish.

"Trust me Onna!" Vegeta paused for a moment, "I shouldn't say what I'm sensing right now… give me a different subject…"

Bulma just stared strangely at Vegeta.

(Scene Removed)

A few hours later, Bulma was walking down the hallway after another day of tweaking with sensors and modifying other contraptions when the door to the swimming pool happened to open and her son and Gohan walked out both still wearing their swimwear. Trunks was leaning over whispering something into Gohan's ear which he was grinning about but then stopped and blushed when he noticed Bulma standing their watching them.

"What are you two talking about?"

Trunks smiled to himself and walked by his mom with a simple, "Nothing."

Gohan followed him with a, "I don't think you want to know anyway."

Bulma stood there dumbfounded for a moment staring at where the boys had walked off to before finally letting out, "Did I miss something here?"

End Chapter


	8. Figure09

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

I told you the other chapter would be out fast! Hope you're enjoying the story so far. Today We get back to the plot, please R&R!

Also I started an updater email program, so if you'd care to be updated when I update my stories, please send an email to: and leave fanfic subscribe or update or something like that in the subject line. The update email itself also gives more information on my thoughts on the stories and upcoming projects! Hope I get an email from you soon ()

Chapter 8: Figure.09

Bulma was above ground tinkering with an old spacecraft, looking as if she were exerting a lot of thought and effort as to why the contraption wasn't flying straight. She was in the middle of barking orders to some of the above ground subordinates when the doors to the lab flew open and several caped aliens entered and began to approach her.

'Oh shit…' was the first thought entering Bulma's mind as the leader in front, a tall orange creature a rumpled forehead came within speaking distance.

"Professor Briefs?" it asked.

Bulma nodded, "Yes?"

"My name is Chrevfh, a general in Freiza's great army," the alien introduced itself.

"An honor to meet your acquaintance," Bulma made a quick bow, anxious to get to what this was all about.

"I realize you're busy so I shall make this brief," 'That's a relief' Bulma thought. "The inventions produced here at Capsule Corp. have made significant improvements to the Cold Empire's armies, and that Capsule Corp has been granted extended operating grants as well."

"Thank you, that is good news to hear," Bulma feigned a smile.

"Also, for the new contract, operations for Capsule Corporation will be moved to Zwexia Seven for better security against outside threats."

Bulma quickly interjected, "That seems hardly necessary, we have more than enough security procedures in place here to protect our resources from any…" A raised hand cut Bulma off.

"Before you waste any more breath, this order comes directly from Frieza himself. It is imperative for the Cold Empire that none of the Capsule trade secrets fall into the hands of our enemies. Frieza will be coming to earth himself to make a public recognition of your efforts."

"Frieza is coming… here?" Bulma asked shocked.

"Yes, his Excellency is gracing you all with his presence to make known the value of your contributions to all."

Bulma fell silent for a moment, the nodded, "I understand, we will cooperate with any needs Master Frieza may desire."

"I thought as much, that is all for now, do take care for the next two months, that is when the ceremony will take place. Security will remain your concern until then."

"Yes thank you for the information," The alien saluted Bulma who bowed in response before turning to leave with his escorts.

Bulma waited for them to leave before returning to what she was working on before. After an hour of mindlessly tinkering with the device she looked over to one of her closer allies and gave her a signal to take over things for a while.

Making absolutely sure no one was still in the building watching her, she opened the door to the underground and stepped inside.

Gohan and Trunks were sparring at fifty times gravity in the training center of the base. They were both getting fast in this gravity setting, blurring around the room and nearly disappearing then colliding with the other.

The two were leaping at each other when the gravitron suddenly shut off, "Emergency Override Activated, returning to normal gravity setting." The two looked puzzled at the machine for a moment before the momentum they had built up in fifty times gravity caused them to crash into each other pretty hard and they fell to the floor.

The door opened as they were still rubbing their heads, "Trunks, Gohan!" Bulma shouted running in, "…Are you two alright?"

"Fine… just how about a little more warning the next time you decide to shut the machine off… we were so not ready for that…"

"So sorry guys, but I didn't have much time, and I was so lost in thought I forgot my communicator upstairs."

"Don't worry about it, but what are you doing down here at this time of day anyway Bulma?" Gohan asked curiously.

"I just got word that Frieza himself is coming to earth," the room fell deathly silent.

"What for?" Trunks finally asked.

"Believe it or not, he's coming to "congratulate" Capsule Corp. apparently for our contributions to the Cold Empire." Bulma stated.

"That's just sick…" Trunks shook his head.

"Oh it gets better, he also intends on moving Capsule Corp. to another planet for better security," Bulma broke the news.

"Oh fuck…" Trunks let out under his breath.

"Trunks! Watch your language! Especially around Gohan."

"It's OK Bulma… I've heard a lot worse… but still, what are we going to do?"

"Yeah mom, we can't just up and move operations, and don't even think of splitting Capsule Corp up, it just wouldn't work without having all of this together the way it is."

"I know Trunks, I know…" Bulma shook her head, "I can come to just one conclusion… Frieza is forcing our hand, while he's on earth is when we make our move."

Again silence filled the room.

"Are you serious?" Trunks asked without any real tone to his voice. He just needed to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

Bulma nodded, "Absolutely, we have the new batteries and assault suits on our side. If we're to make a move… then it's time…"

Trunks nodded, "It's go time then…"

"We can put the current models of our suits and mechs into mass production starting immediately… the biggest problem is we don't have enough people to use it all… We have our resistance fighters… but even with technology we've developed… we're talking a few hundred warriors against all the force Frieza will bring with him… The numbers just aren't good enough…"

Trunks gritted his teeth, "It's not hopeless! There's gotta be something we can do to help our odds."

"Umm…" The two of them turned to Gohan who looked as if he was trying to speak, "I… I might know some people willing to help."

Trunks and Bulma looked at him for a moment blinking a few times. Bulma finally replied, "Gohan, honey… It's not that we don't trust you, far from that you're the one we do trust with everything. But understand how hard it is to fully trust outsiders to what goes on here. If word got out about our underground operations it would mean the end for all of us."

"I know that, but only the most trusted… I know who needs to be left out of this. Even a few will help right?"

Trunks let a small smile out, "Yeah, it would."

Bulma sighed and nodded, "We need to just be as careful as possible, we don't want to attract attention."

"Right, then we'll get plans rolling, we need to move fast especially if we only have two months to train everyone in how to use this equipment." Trunks grinned at Gohan who gave him a weak smile in return.

Bulma turned to leave, "Then I leave the rest to you two, I need to get back up top. I want you to also pick up a suit from the lab to try out and start working with."

"Will do," Trunks reassured her.

"Be careful, OK?"

"Always!" Gohan gave her a thumbs up as she left completely.

As soon as she was gone Trunks let out a deep sigh. He was trying to cope with all of this coming to be settled in just two months. Earth would either be free of Frieza's rule… or… they'd all be dead. He looked over at Gohan and snapped himself out of it as fast as he could realizing he needed to be strong for him too.

"Come on Gohan, let's go get tailored up for the latest assault suit." Trunks gave Gohan a confident smile.

"Sure…" Gohan actually wasn't too sure about what an assault suit even was.

Down at the bottom lab Trunks lead Gohan around to the eastern side of the lab area where a large compression chamber was sealed with a few scientists working around it.

"Trunks," one of them acknowledged, "Your mother sent word that this is the model to be mass produced already."

"Good, then we're each going to need one," Trunks informed her.

"They're actually one size fits all, they've been tested to stretch to gigantic proportions and still easily compress back to their normal size," The chamber opened with a hiss of air sound and the woman pulled out two cases. She handed both Gohan and Trunks a case, "Why don't you try them on anyway, you can change in the room right over there," she pointed a booth set up nearby.

"Thanks," Trunks motioned for Gohan to follow him into the room.

Once inside they opened up the cases. Inside was a garment unlike anything Gohan had ever seen before. His was really dark blue and appeared to be a complete body suit. Gohan looked it over and was getting a little confused that it looked to be about half his size, "They stretch remember?" Trunks answered preempting his question. "They still fit pretty skin tight," Trunks was stripping off his clothes down to the buff before putting the suit on.

Gohan followed Trunks' example and pulled off his training clothes. Even under the circumstances Trunks couldn't help but watch Gohan undress. Gohan fit himself into the stretchy body suit, taking a moment to squeeze through the sleeves while jumping around a little trying to get it on right. Trunks chuckled a little, get his black suit on with much less frustration. "It gets easier once you realize you don't have to go through all that."

"You've worn these before?" Gohan asked.

"Earlier versions of them, the original armor actually came with our parents when they arrived from outer space, these have been superbly modified from those though. You can barely tell they're based off of those anymore."

Gohan finally got his body suit on all the way and noticed it even had a sleeve for his tail. Trunks looked over how the suit clung to the skin of his thin yet muscled body. "Now… what?" Gohan asked looking up at Trunks noticing he had been staring at him. A smirk came across Gohan's face as he looked down at the tight suit he was wearing, "Like what you see huh?" He turned and showed off the suit more.

"Uh-huh," Trunks smiled, but anyway, there's more in the case.

Gohan checked the case again and noticed there was a layer of fabric that pulled out exposing more things under it. He pulled out boots, gloves, a belt, and what looked like a chest armor piece. Gohan looked down at his gloves and boots after putting them on, they actually made his feet, lower legs, and forearms look bigger. The belt had some kind of pad on it, the armor had a strange round slot on the inside, and Gohan almost would have missed something else inside the case, it was small but as he picked it up, the pressure caused it to grow revealing it to be a matching helmet with visor. "Whoa…"

Gohan looked over himself in the mirror once he had all the pieces on. He really almost felt like a superhero in this outfit, kind of like the Flash but with darker colors.

"You're still missing something," Trunks motioned to the case again. Gohan looked and saw there was actually a pocket on the lid of the case. Inside there was a thin metallic cylinder. Gohan looked over it a little before returning his gaze to Trunks. "That's the GX-3200."

"The battery you were talking about before?" Trunks nodded, "How does it work?"

"Did you see the round slot inside your armor?" Gohan nodded, "Plug it in!"

Gohan pulled his armor forward and slid the batter underneath and fit it into the slot. He felt a slight tingle, but nothing much.

"Now what?"

Trunks walked over to him, "If I know this thing right, you activate it by pressing this," Trunks rubbed his finger along the pad on the belt. Gohan's armor began to resonate energy patterns from the armor's center all the way across the suit. Gohan looked down at his hands which were glowing with the suits power.

"Wow…"

Trunk agreed, these suits were pretty cool, he activated his belt and the energy patterns on his suit did the same thing. "Try powering up?"

"Sure," Gohan lowered his stance and started calling out his power. His Chi started building around him, and immediately Trunks noticed a difference. For one, even the color of Gohan's Chi pattern changed. Gohan started glowing a bright red, and the energy continued to build, he was finding it challenging to keep his power up in check enough to stop the room from collapsing around them. Trunks powered up the same way and a bright red aura surrounded him. "These things are pretty cool, it's so easy to move…" Gohan changed stances and hopped around a bit.

"The helmet also has a built in scouter function, but it's still not as good as being able to sense your enemies naturally. From what my mom told me the suits even generate a nullification field which cancels out energy blasts directed at you which fall between certain power levels and energy frequencies; which is nice to know you don't have to worry about energy blasts from the small fries at all. The battery also transfers power to you through the suit which is why our chi is so different like this, it adds its' power to our own which still means the stronger you are, the stronger the suit can make you."

Gohan took it all in, he clenched his fist and watched the static build up around his hand and arm, "This is great, and anyone can use these suits then…"

"Just about," Trunks thought, "as long as the suit meets their basic anatomy shape, you know like how they custom made these suits with a tail sleeve for us."

Gohan wrapped his tail under his belt, "I see."

"We'll be training a little in these suits to get more adjusted to them for when it's time for the real battle. How about we show these off to everyone outside?" Trunks motioned to the door with his head.

Gohan gave him a thumbs up, "Sure."

They walked outside the changing booth and most of the work being done nearby came to a halt. The red glow the suits gave off with those two, the way the power pulsed across the suit every few seconds, and even how dark in color they were to begin with made them very formidable in appearance. Compared to traditional armor worn by the Cold Empire soldiers… there was hardly a comparison.

One of the scientists leaned over to one of her partners and whispered, "If only they'd give up through intimidation alone huh?" The other scientist could only nod.

The whispers attracted the attention of the entire lab, even Dr. Gero came over to see what was going on. His eyes widened upon seeing the two standing there and he pulled out a device from his pocket and held it in their direction. It beeped a little before giving him a reading, and he gasped, "It's no good… not if it can't beat that…" he pocketed the device again and returned to his station.

A few of the scientists, once broken from their reverie, stepped over to the two demi-Saiyans to make a few adjustments to the suits. Once they were sure the suits were configured properly to them, Gohan and Trunks returned to the booth to change back into their normal clothes.

Gohan noticed Trunks mood lifted a little since the news broke about only having two months until Frieza's arrival. After seeing what these suits were capable of, maybe he was feeling a little more confident was all Gohan could think of on the matter.

The two grabbed their cases with the armor packed nearly in them again and started to leave. On the way out Gohan was stopped by one of the scientists, "Gohan, I'm sorry but I just realized there's a setting in your belt that was left out, could I see it for a moment so I can fix it?"

"Sure," Gohan lifted the case onto the table and the person got to work on fixing the problem.

Trunks eyes shifted as he thought about something, "Shoot, we need to hurry, I forgot I was supposed to do something…"

Gohan looked at him concerned, "Well… in that case, you don't need to wait for me, how about you go take care of it, I'll wait for whatever they're doing to my belt, and we'll meet for lunch?"

Trunks smiled, "Sounds good, see you in a bit," he waved as he ran off.

Gohan waited patiently for a few more minutes before the scientist working on his belt closed the pad with a click and placed it back in the case, "OK, all done," it handed the case back to Gohan.

"Thanks," Gohan took it and started to leave the lab also.

Gohan almost made it to the door when a gruff voice stopped him, "Gohan."

He turned and saw Dr. Gero motioning for him to follow him. He thought about it for a second, but gave into curiosity and followed the old man to a secondary lab room. Once inside, Gero shut the door so no one could hear them, "Listen to me Gohan, and tell no one of what I'm about to tell you… Do you want to help Vegeta?"

Gohan's ears perked up in hearing the name of Trunks' dad mentioned, "What do you mean? How?"

"One question at a time damn it… First let me explain that I am building Vegeta a body, an android body, but it's been difficult making one compatible with Saiyan genes. And even more difficult is making one to match a power output greater than those batteries can produce… There's no point to the android process if the power yields can't be higher than that," Gohan nodded, somewhat understanding the situation.

"So what is it that you need me to do?"

(Scene Removed)

Gohan first went up to his room and left his case with his suit in the closet. He then took off to meet Trunks for lunch. He ran into the kitchen and saw Trunks already there waiting for him, "Took a while did it?" Trunks asked.

"Just a little while," Gohan smiled to him and they grabbed their food and went to find a place to sit. "So what was it you needed to check out?" Gohan asked.

Trunks nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, when you said you knew people who'd be willing to join our cause, you meant your friends back at the Rogues, right?"

Gohan nodded, "Some of them, yes."

"How many?"

Gohan thought about it, "Well in the Rouges alone I'd say there should be at least thirty trustworthy people, but there's also other allies, and anti-imperial groups that we know… All in all… if needed I should be able to get us at least three hundred people."

Trunks eyes widened, "Wow…"

"Why?"

Trunks looked off to the side, "Well I was thinking we were talking a group of quite a few numbers, wasn't expecting that many, but I still trying to think how we could get that many people here without anyone noticing."

Gohan nodded following the train of thought, "Yeah it would look pretty obvious that something was going on if a huge group like that just suddenly marched into the Capsule Corp front door."

"Exactly," Trunks nodded, "Which is why I was looking through the old caverns that used to connect to us near the water supply."

"There's caverns near here?" Gohan sounded surprised.

"Well… There used to be… our mining for water caused some of them to collapse, so I was trying to figure out how much debris is in the way, and if it's safe to clear it without risking further collapse." Trunks looked back over to Gohan finally and noticed most of the food was already gone, "HEY!"

Gohan looked up from slurping bowl of noodles, "Oops… I guess I got carried away… hehe…" He pushed Trunks portions back over to his side of the table.

"You're like a little black hole now…" Trunks took a few bites of his food, "You at least heard what I was saying right?"

"Caverns, collapsed, debris in the way, yeah." Gohan chugged down a soda before continuing, "So you're thinking if we can clear this debris safely then it would be possible to sneak any new resistance force into the place through the caverns underground."

"Exactly!" Trunks smiled.

"Sounds like a plan, when do we get started?"

"As soon as I'm done eating, give me a bit, geesh!" Trunks laughed mockingly at Gohan. Gohan shook his head and waited patiently.

Once Trunks was done, he took Gohan down to the water reclamation area, "It's through this hatch." After twisting it open, there was a metal stair case leading down. After heading down a little ways, the metal walls began giving way for stone. The stairs ended and the light was feint. Trunks handed Gohan a flashlight so they could see better.

The cavern was moist, Gohan could tell they were near the water line. The flashlights they had were very bright, and lit a good distance down the cavern. They came across the first chunk of debris that Gohan could tell Trunks was able to clear away for the most part. They kept walking for a couple miles before coming to another cave in.

"This is the one I'm worried about," Trunks motioned up to the ceiling with his flashlight. The ceiling was cracked and there were drips of water coming through the cracks.

Gohan whistled, "There must be some body of water up there… yeah if we're not careful, that could flood this whole place." Gohan examined it more, "Trunks look," Gohan motioned from side to side of the ceiling with his flashlight, "The left side is cracked and all, but the closer you get to the right, it looks more stable, what if dug around the debris into the wall on the right?"

Trunks nodded, "It's worth a shot." He put his flashlight away and held his hand out. An energy ball began to form in his hand and he approached the rocky debris. His energy ball rolled over rock, disintegrating it as it did so. He flared it up a little, and began walking forward, making a pathway around the debris.

Gohan followed suit, and did the same helping clear out space along the path. They carefully worked at this for about half an hour before coming out on the other side of the debris and back into the cavern. "Alright! We did it!" Gohan cheered

Trunks laughed, "There's still a few more we have to worry about," and they continued down the cavern. After three more debris fields they finally cleared the way to the cavern's exit. The sun was setting and the two looked out onto the mountain range the cavern exited to.

"Wow… This is really pretty," Gohan looked around at actual trees and running water that filled this valley.

"Yeah… not too many spots like this left…" Trunks wrapped his arms around Gohan from behind and joined him at just watching the scenery. They rocked back and forth for a bit before their Saiyan hearing picked up something a little ways off.

"You hear that Trunks?" Gohan whispered.

"I think so…"

They listened harder and made out, "The scouters picked something up around here just a little while ago."

"Shit…" Trunks grabbed Gohan and dove to the cavern wall to hide. He felt so stupid forgetting the cavern was shielded like their base was to protect against scouter sweeps. Two armored aliens floated down into the valley where Trunks and Gohan could see them.

"What are we gonna do Trunks?" Gohan looked worried. He knew first hand that imperial soldiers picked something up on their scouters they would keep looking for it until they found it.

"We're going to have to take them out Gohan…" Trunks closed his eyes to concentrate for any other power signatures. "They're alone… but we still can't afford to be seen… This is going to be tricky, Gohan I want you to stay hidden OK?"

"Trunks, what are you going to do?" Gohan looked concerned.

Trunks started pulling his clothes off revealing he was wearing his assault suit underneath, "The power these suits generate can't be detected by scouters, and they should stay invisible to scouters in general. These guys aren't that strong but we can't risk anyone else becoming the wiser and having them launch a bigger investigation of the area."

Trunks pulled the boots and gloves out of the backpack he'd had with him and expanded the helmet to put it on. "Here I go," Trunks sipped out of the cavern and started sneaking around below the alien warriors.

Gohan watched anxiously as Trunks set to work. The aliens were floating back to back near each other when Trunks flew out from the canopy and silently elbowed one in the back before continuing his silent upward movement.

"OOW! Hey! Why'd you do that for?!"

"Do what? I didn't do shit dumbass!"

"Oh I'm a dumbass now am I?"

"Yeah, you are, now get off me and get back to work."

The other alien turned back around when Trunks dropped in upside down and thumped him hard on the back of the head before moving out of site again. "That is it! I've had it with your superiority complex!" the alien Trunks hit turned around challengingly to face the other.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" the other alien asked as he faced him.

"You are!" the smaller alien pointed his blaster at the other one.

"Oh you are not pointing your blaster at me, who the fuck do you think I am?!" Faster than the other alien could see, the larger one pulled out his blaster and shot him. "Ha!" the alien smirked to himself as his partner fell from the sky. A blur appeared behind him and caught his falling body, "What the?" the alien asked himself as he could only see the person who caught the falling body with his right eye. Trunks grabbed the smaller alien's arm with the blaster and used it to shoot the larger alien. The shot pierced a hole through his chest and he fell as well. Trunks let the body of the other alien fall to the ground with it.

Trunks flew back over to Gohan and pulled off his helmet, "They should think they took each other out now."

Gohan nodded, "Wow, good job Trunks! That was awesome!"

Trunks smiled and gave Gohan a thumb up and the two ran back through the cavern.

The two demi-Saiyans made it back in time for dinner, which they scarffed down at their typical Saiyan pace while Bulma just watched and shook her head. Bulma approved of their plan of bringing in extra resistance through the caverns underneath the complex. By the time dinner was through, Trunks was stretching and yawning. Gohan thought it was odd for him to be tired so early, but Bulma explained that using the assault suit leaves a person feeling pretty tired until they get used to it.

Gohan walked Trunks over to his room and closed the door behind them, "Are you going to stay with me tonight Gohan?" Trunks kissed Gohan's cheek.

"I will, but I'm not sleepy yet, so I'm going to do some more stuff before bed, k?" Trunks nodded and headed off to bed. Gohan smiled to himself and walked out of Trunks' room.

Gohan ended up back at the gravity training room. He walked right in and locked the door behind him. At the computer controls he entered a few commands to make the computer not display his gravity setting and turned the machine up to a hundred times normal gravity. He took a deep breath, "Only two months to go… I've gotta be able to do more than this…" The machine switched on and the room's hue turned to red. He braced himself for the impact he knew was coming.

Gohan was almost pushed all the way to the floor. He caught himself on his hands, and slowly pushed himself back up to his feet. "Man… I didn't think there'd be this much difference between sixty and a hundred times gravity…" Sweat built up on Gohan's brow, "I can barely stand…"

Gohan assumed one of his endurance stances and tried to hold it. He barely made it to ten minutes when he felt his muscles giving out, so he shifted his weight to his other leg to work the opposite side. Again ten minutes went by before he had to change postures.

Two hours later found a puddle of sweat under Gohan's body, and him trying to do pushups. "Four hundred ninety seven, four hundred ninety eight, four… hundred… ninety nine… fi..ve.. hun..n.nn..dred!" He pushed with all his remaining effort for his last one before collapsing his own sweat on the floor. Breathing hard Gohan tried to rest a little to get some energy back.

After a few more moments of resting, Gohan's eyes opened wide and determined and he pushed himself onto his back. The next moment found Gohan starting sit-ups.

Another hour went by before the door to the gravity room finally opened and a weary Gohan stepped out. Gohan headed straight for the spa, and almost fell into it as soon as he got there. Gohan closed his eyes and tried to relax. He almost fell asleep too, but had too many things all toying on his mind. He had barely had a chance to let it set in yet… Frieza… the one who killed his father… the one responsible for turning his planet into such a slummy wasteland… would be here in two months. Gohan clenched his fist under the water. He had to do more to be ready… he just had to…

Two days later…

Haru was sitting on his cot flipping through an armament magazine, while Rowdy was trying to get his attention just to annoy him. Haru was getting fed up with Rowdy's antics and was about to wop him over the head with the magazine. He had put the magazine down for only a moment when he saw Rowdy's eyes widen and heard from behind him "So which articles in here are the good ones?"

Haru's ears perked up and he slowly turned to see Gohan flipping through the pages of the magazine he had just put down. "Gohan!" They both said.

"Hey guys," Gohan smiled to them.

Rowdy practically jumped Gohan, and gave him a big hug, Haru put his arm around Gohan's shoulder a little more civilly, "So what ya doin here? Not that we're not happy to see you, but wow, you look good."

"Thanks," Gohan looked around, "We need to talk in private…"

The three of them went to a place where they could be alone to discuss things, and Gohan told them what was happening, "Two months… fuck… that makes me sick just thinking that… _he_… is actually coming here." Rowdy nodded in agreement.

"That's why we're planning on making our move, we'll get Freiza while he's here and put a stop to everything."

"But how can we really help you, we can understand strength in numbers and all the crap… but they're just so much stronger than any of us are…" Haru played the scenes through his head and it didn't look good.

"You guys are gonna flip, what if I were to tell you we have these suits that can make you just as fast and just as strong as they are?"

"Are you serious?" Rowdy asked, an excited grin growin on his lips.

"Yeah, the latest in Capsule Corp technology that only we have, I've seen it work; it's awesome! All the fighters who use blaster guns can't even touch you while you're wearing this armor, it's that cool!"

Haru smiled, "Well you know we're in, but what did you have in mind?"

"We need more, but only the ones we know for absolute sure we can trust, I can think of about twenty or thirty other rogues we can bring in on this, but we're going to need more, anyone else we've met and trust too."

"You mean like Piguro and his Banderos?" Rowdy asked.

"Exactly! Piguro and Rom will want in on this! We need to work on getting everything straightened out so we can get to training with the stuff… We don't have a lot of time…"

"Right!" The three of them split up and started pulling their contacts while keeping things under hush. Street gangs started getting word that the Rogues were looking for those who hated Frieza, but this wasn't an uncommon thing to travel around the underworld.

Within a few days they'd managed to gather quite a significant number of people all under one abandoned warehouse. Everyone was still wondering what was going on, a few even a little nervous that maybe this wasn't for real, when Gohan stood up at the front of the room.

"Thank you everyone for coming, you have no idea how much it's appreciated. I won't waste anymore of your time though so we'll get right to the point of why we're here today. Frieza is coming to earth." A few voices broke out all talking about Frieza suddenly, "How many of you hate Frieza down to the core?" The whole room let out a holler, "Also what if I told you that there are aliens out there who hate Frieza just as much as we do?" the crowd got silent for a moment before a few people started cheering which caused the room to cheer along with it. "We are being given an opportunity to rid the galaxy of Frieza, but that means we need warriors with the courage to fight against him! This is an immense and dangerous task which is why we have only you who we know we can trust present here today. Frieza has ruined all of our lives, and enjoyed it! He's a bloodthirsty tyrant who needs to be put out of commission… Who wants to help us do it?" Gohan knew this was asking a lot, for everyone to cast aside their fear, and take up arms against those who had reined terror from above for the past decade.

"What can we do?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"We have a way, and if you agree to join us, then we'll spend the next two months training you how, and then we'll strike."

Someone started walking through the crowd, "A way…" the crowd parted to allow the cloaked figure to pass, "I like the sound of that, we've waited for ten years for a way to make itself known, and now you're saying you have it?" the figure pulled off the cloak revealing Piguro's scarred face, and Rom coming up behind him.

"Yes," Gohan said honestly.

"Then we're in, if this means putting an end to Frieza's control of earth then we'll do whatever it takes," Piguro pledged. The rest of the Banderos followed behind and bowed, pledging their commitment as well.

Gohan closed his eyes, "Once you're in… there's no going back…"

Piguro smiled, "Of course there isn't, we're in for keeps."

"Anyone else?" Haru asked.

The rest of the room lifted their arms and yelled in approval.

"Thanks everyone, then we move, we have a lot of work to do!" Gohan lead everyone outside where a few hovercrafts landed and loaded everyone up.

"That didn't go too bad," Gohan sighed in relief to Haru's statement. He was right it could have gone a lot worse. The hovercrafts lifted up and started flying toward the valley where the cavern entrance was.

Along the way the hovercraft, Gohan felt a few powers flying up to the crafts, "Everyone needs to stay down!" he called through the ship.

An imperial soldier pulled up to the pilot's window, "And where is this convoy going?"

Very calmly the driver answered, "We're taking supplies to Cold Capitol by way of route 715C, here's our flight confirmation card." The pilot handed it to the guard for inspection.

The guard did a quick scan over the card which was authentic, then scanned the ship which revealed nothing else but the pilot, "Very well, move along." And the ships resumed their course.

Haru let out a breath, "That was close; I wonder why they didn't get suspicious of so many people on board."

"It's because they couldn't tell," Gohan answered, "These ships are magnetically shielded against scouter scans, so even if they tried to get a reading from inside the ship it just would have told them zero."

"Wow…" Haru admitted that was pretty nifty.

The ships reached the valley and started unloading everyone into the caverns. Everyone followed Gohan through the caverns, "It's this way, we're almost to the base!" Up the stairs, and into the hallways was accompanied by various vocal sounds of admiration for how impressed everyone was by the structure.

They were all lead to the training center which was more than large enough for everyone to convey in at the same time. Bulma and Trunks were already there awaiting everyone's arrival.

"Hello everyone, my name is Bulma Briefs, president of Capsule Corporation, and leader of the Anti-Frieza underground." Everyone nodded in understanding that Capsule Corp was where they would get the technology they'd be using to fight Frieza.

Bulma explained their plans to the crowd, and had Yamcha demonstrate the Assault Suit, as well as a few others demonstrate some of the other mechs and vehicles. It was an impressive arsenal. "We have just two months to familiarize with everything before the big event. We understand that many of you may have once belonged to rival street gangs above ground, but here you are now a team against a common foe. Allow me to be the first to welcome you all as the new Z-Fighters! Earth's Last Heroes!"

**End Chapter**

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	9. Breaking the Habit

Dragon Ball Z

Tourniquet Divine

Chapter Opening:

Over a year and a half later the story continues… This story will be completed!

Well I have to thank SonSofia for reviewing, I thought what you said was a good idea with the extra spacings. On my format of the story on Word it already was spaced between each paragraph but the AFF uploads don't keep any formatting. As for the other part… I guess I shouldn't let it get to me but as anyone reading this can see… I did… I just about gave up writing this story since the reviews on it are barely existent… and no one even sent me any emails… That was really disheartening… but the story's almost complete so it'd be a waste to not finish it, so here we go still. Maybe things will change in the review department… but I'm not counting on it anymore.

Mikinyet, thanks a lot! And yeah… me either! Lol!

And daisyINSANEangel, I'm so glad to see you're still here and active! I'm so sorry for not updating in so long, but I promise to see what I can do to get more moving here!

A year and a half later… Wow… Here we are at chapter nine… only four chapters to go in case anyone hasn't caught on to the pattern yet… so get ready for things to really start coming together. Action time!

Chapter 9: Breaking the Habit

With the influx of people moving into the Capsule Base, rooming arrangements had to be… rearranged. Everyone had to take a bunk mate or two. Needless to say Trunks had no problem sharing his room with Gohan. Gohan on the other hand, at least in Trunks' opinion, hadn't been looking too well the last few days. He'd seemed tired. Of course if he knew what was going on he'd understand where the tiredness was coming from.

In Trunks room, his arm laid draped around a body pillow he clung to tightly, but other than that he was alone in his bed. Outside and down the hall a light blinked "In use" on the gravity room's door.

Inside Gohan was running laps around the room, and had been for over an hour. The machine against the wall had an LCD display which kept blinking "350". Gohan ran for the wall without stopping, made it with enough force to run up the wall several steps and flip backwards off the wall. He impacted the floor below with enough force to send a low rumbling echo through the room.

Gohan grit his teeth in effort to keep his balance and then pushed himself back onto his feet and kept going. In his mind he had even more of a drive to be stronger now. Everyone expected him to be stronger now. His friends were counting on him. Even if they would be fighting too now because of those new armor suits, it was still up to him to be stronger. That's why he wasn't even thinking of using it right now to help him train. He had to do this on his own so that when he put that suit on… he'd be that much stronger.

Gohan jumped and was in the middle of kick when he realized he had mistimed his jump and was barely able to brace himself to hit the floor. He let out a low yell of pain as he landed wrong, and cursed under his breath. He just lied there on the floor until he got his strength back.

From the gravitron training, he would limp over to the spa and soak for a little while, letting his soar muscles recover. He would then quietly slip back over to Trunks' room, get back in his pajamas, and crawl back into bed with Trunks. He would sleep for less than an hour before Trunks started waking up.

Trunks woke up and noticed Gohan clutching the other side of the body pillow and separated him from it so he could hold him directly. Trunks sniffed Gohan's hair, and it still smelt of fresh shampoo. Trunks chuckled quietly to himself and nuzzled into Gohan a little more, his hands roaming over the boy's sides. As his hand grazed over a certain spot he noticed Gohan cringe in his sleep. Curious, he tried it again, and received the same effect. He decided to pull Gohan's night shirt up to get a better look and saw a big bruise forming on Gohan's abdomen. He knew that wasn't there yesterday. These strange things were starting to worry him, as he knew it was really hard to make a Saiyan bruise.

Trunks got up out of bed and started getting ready for the day. He took a shower, put some stuff from last night away, and got dressed before finally leaning over Gohan's ear and saying, "Hey, it's time for breakfast."

On queue, Gohan's eyes slowly opened and he sat up looking not completely there, but moving at least. He shook his head a few times and rubbed his eyes, "Good, food!" he stretched and climbed out of bed. He found suitable clothing for the day, and got dressed. Trunks couldn't help but come up to Gohan from behind and nip at his ear while he was changing.

"Trunks…" Gohan sighed.

Trunks let out a small chuckle, "What?"

"Don't get me started or we won't be eating for a while," Gohan turned around and put a finger to Trunks lips, pushing him back ever so slightly.

"It's not my fault you have no restraint," Trunks laughed as Gohan continued dressing.

Gohan patted his butt in front of Trunks, "Well you can kiss my ass!"

"Maybe I will," Gohan shook his head as he headed for the door.

Trunks followed him to the dining area. The whole place had become quite lively recently. Trunks understood though, these were people who weren't used to having enough food to go around. Even Gohan was getting used to ordering enough food to actually fill him. It was still fun to watch the heads turn as the two of them walked through the dining room with huge plates filled with stacks of food no ordinary person could finish in a week.

Gohan had been eating a lot lately too, Trunks watched from across the table as Gohan tore into the food like a crazed person, even more so than what was normal for them. The two of them were about half way through their food when Rowdy and Haru came into the room with their plates and headed over to their table to join them.

Haru shook his head as he watched Gohan eat, "If this is how much a Saiyan is supposed to eat, I don't know how you kept from starving for so many years…"

"He's still pretty thin from not eating much," Trunks interjected.

"Point… but not so much more than anyone else…" Haru nodded.

Rowdy couldn't help but stare as Gohan scarfed down his food. "Wow," he whispered as the food vanished with lingering afterimages of what used to be there.

Gohan finished the last piece of food and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed looking content, "Ahhh…" he sighed. His eyes opened and widened as he looked around, "Haru, Rowdy, when did you guys get here?"

The three practically face planted into the table. "You're really in your own world when you're eating aren't you?" Haru asked while keeping his balance.

"Sorry," Gohan rubbed the back of his head embarrassed.

Trunks finished his food also and pushed himself from the table, "Well then it's time to get to work."

Rowdy jumped up from his seat, "Can we come see how you train?"

Trunks blinked a few times, "Umm… That's a little difficult…"

Gohan smirked, "Sure!"

"Alright!" Rowdy yelled.

"Gohan?" Trunks asked looking confused.

"We can tone it down just for a little bit so they can watch," Gohan winked.

Haru got a bad feeling but nodded, "I've wanted to see exactly just how strong you two are for a while anyway."

All four of them set their food aside for the serve bots to take care of and headed for the training area.

"We always train in the gravity room," Gohan opened the door and let everyone inside. Trunks was still wondering what Gohan was planning.

Haru started looking nervous, they hadn't been in here before, but he'd heard what it was like.

Gohan was at the back of the room setting the machine when Trunks walked over to him and whispered, "Be careful alright, they're jus…" Gohan shushed him with a finger to the lips and pointed to the machine. Trunks saw Gohan had the machine set to "3". Gohan snickered evilly and pressed the activate button.

"You guys might wanna brace yourselves," Gohan mentioned as the room's hue changed colors.

The two of them looked around confused and were suddenly forced to the floor. Haru managed to stay on his feet while Rowdy was down on all fours. Haru forced himself to stand up and get to a better posture, "Goddamn!"

Rowdy also started pushing himself off the floor and to a better position, "God I feel like I weigh a ton…"

"You're a long way from there!" Gohan laughed.

The two of them looked over finally and saw how Gohan and Trunks seemed to have absolutely no trouble standing in the place. Gohan walked right up to them as if it were normal. "Gee…" Rowdy stared in disbelief.

"It gets a lot easier once you get used to it, try jumping around a little," Gohan hopped from one foot to another again as if the strain wasn't even there.

Haru felt his leg almost give out under him as he shifted his weight around, "Oh man, hell no!"

Trunks shook his head, "Gohan's just giving you guys a hard time, the first thing you should do once you get your balance is try walking, it's going to seem hard at first, but you'll get used to it. Just try not to drag your feet too much."

Rowdy did the best he could, lifting a leg and taking a long step, then setting it down with a loud thump. "Shit!" he breathed hard trying to move around.

Haru wasn't fairing much better, "This is fucking hard!"

"This is three times normal earth gravity," Gohan said with a smirk. "So let's see Rowdy you normally weigh about eighty five pounds or so… that means right now you're body weighs two hundred and fifty five pounds."

"Damn I swear it feels like more!" Rowdy's face strained as he moved slowly.

"I have to admit, you guys are strong to be able to even move at all, normal humans would have just plopped on the floor and been completely immobilized probably at two times gravity."

"Thanks… I think…" Haru slowly paced over to the wall to have something to lean against.

"You guys might think you're feeling weak and all right now, but trust me, you'll feel a big difference once the machine turns off." Gohan cheered them on.

Rowdy joined Haru by the wall, "That still doesn't make it any easier to move, I can't believe you can move around so easily like this, you must be really strong now!" Rowdy smiled brightly.

Gohan realized he'd never shown either of them his powers, "You want to know how strong I really am?"

Haru and Rowdy perked up wondering what Gohan meant by that, "Huh?" they asked.

The air started to fill with static, and a few bolts of electricity formed around Gohan, "Well, do you?"

"I think he wants to put on a show," Haru laughed.

Trunks shook his head, "Here we go."

Gohan's stance lowered, his legs spread, and his muscles visibly tightened. A few more bolts of static formed around him before his body started glowing. With a sudden flash of light, Gohan's aura flared out and illuminated the room in a brilliant white light. The force of Gohan's power forced the air in the room to move rapidly making strong gusts. Gohan's mouth opened, a low tone escaping his throat rising in pitch as he continued to power up.

A few bubbles were released from the oxygen tank to his brain as a reaction to what Vegeta was sensing. The floating head turned and looked to the ceiling, "No… Kakarot's brat… is…" His virtual eyes narrowed, "It can't be… but that power well… could he be close…?"

Gohan's chi flashed a last time as he stood there, his aura still flaring around him, but much calmer now than a moment ago. Trunks stared at Gohan, squinting his eyes. It had been for only a moment, but for that brief split second he could have sworn he felt much more power within Gohan than what he was sensing now.

Haru and Rowdy slid to the floor. "Wow…"

Gohan smirked and used super speed to move around the room in a way that made it look like he was practically teleporting to Haru and Rowdy. Gohan flipped and kicked in the air, then disappeared and was punching elsewhere.

Once Gohan was done showing off, Rowdy couldn't keep from staring with his mouth hanging wide open, "Wow… We'll never be strong and fast like that!" Rowdy sounded very impressed.

"Yeah…" Haru just sounded in deep thought.

"You guys never know, if you keep practicing, get used to three times gravity, push it to five, maybe to ten, it's possible!" Gohan winked to them.

"Aren't you a positive thinker?" Haru just shook his head again.

Gohan was smiling quite pleased with himself but then noticed Trunks giving him a funny look, "What's wrong Trunks?'

Trunks immediately snapped out of his critical daze, "Oh, nothing, don't worry about it."

Gohan nodded but got a funny feeling that something was bugging Trunks, and he was worried he was the cause. He showed Haru and Rowdy a couple more tricks in the gravity room like energy balls and flying which they both swore they would never be able to do without the suits.

"I just don't think it's even possible for Humans to do stuff like that…" Haru stated doubting himself.

Gohan chuckled, "What if I told you that there are other plain regular humans who regularly train at twenty times gravity and can do all the same tricks I just showed you?"

"I wouldn't believe you," Haru laughed.

Trunks finally spoke up again, "It's actually true, if you ever run into Tien or Yamcha, they're capable of doing just that, so it's not impossible… we have to admit it's nowhere near easy, but it's very possible if you do it right."

Rowdy's face lit up, "Wow! I wanna be able to fly on my own and shoot lasers from my hand! That'd be awesome!"

"One step at a time," Gohan gently patted him, "First you gotta get used to this higher gravity so you can get stronger."

After a little while longer in the gravity chamber, Haru and Rowdy started to look worn out. Trunks decided it was time to give the two of them a rest, and he shut the machine off. As soon as the gravity returned to normal, both of the two human boys got a wide eyed look on their face.

Gohan smiled, "What's up?"

Rowdy hopped from one foot to the other, "I feel so light! Like I could fly!"

"Not quite yet, but trust me it's a good thing."

Haru looked over his hands, "Wow… after just a short time I really do feel stronger… We need to do this more often."

"Anytime you want, you guys can use one of these rooms," Gohan cheered them on.

Trunks nodded, "Yeah as long as there's a gravity room available anyone can use them, and we'll show you how to operate the machine so you don't hurt yourselves. For now though why don't you guys rest up a little bit, you don't want to go all out so soon or else you'll never want to train like this again."

"That's a good idea, come on Rowdy, we can rest up in the sauna or something cool like that." Haru motioned to the door.

"OK I guess…" Rowdy wasn't too thrilled, "We'll meet up later right?"

"Yeah definitely, at least by dinner you know," Rowdy smiled at Gohan and then followed Haru out the door.

The door shut and Trunks chuckled to himself. "What is it?" Gohan asked.

"You have cool friends Gohan," Trunks returned to the gravity machine to get ready to start actually training.

"I know," Gohan smirked as he watched Trunks turn the gravity machine up to "100" times gravity, "A hundred huh? Is that gonna be OK?"

"I figure we got seventy five down, so we have got to keep pushing it." Gohan nodded to Trunks statement and awaited the machine while trying to compensate internally how much extra to give and how much more to hold back.

The two of them put in a more serious training sessions for a few hours. They finished and decided to shower up before joining Haru and Rowdy for dinner. When they got to the shower Trunks tried to follow Gohan in, "What are you doing?" Gohan asked a little startled.

"I'm going to take a shower with you?" Trunks raised his eyebrows for emphasis.

"Truuunks…" Gohan whined trying his best not to seem nervous, "We don't have much time right now, we're supposed to meet Haru and Rowdy for dinner soon. We can play all you want after dinner, how's that?"

Trunks did catch the hint of nervousness in Gohan's voice but played it off like he hadn't, "OK Gohan, then hurry so I can shower next and we can eat."

Gohan tapped Trunks on the nose, "Be right back." Gohan shut the door and turned the shower on.

Gohan pulled his clothes off and looked at himself in the mirror real quick. His thoughts were right, in the brighter light of the bathroom you could clearly see the bruise marks on his torso from his falls at higher gravity settings. He wasn't as concerned with the dimmer lights of the bedroom, but Trunks would notice for sure with the white bathroom lighting.

Gohan sighed to himself, he didn't want anyone to know how hard he was pushing himself because he didn't want anyone to worry about him. He knew he'd get a good talking to for pushing his body as hard as he had been. He didn't leave himself with any other choice in his own mind. He had to do this for everyone.

Gohan washed himself quickly, then toweled off and dressed before heading back out and leaving the bathroom for Trunks. A few minutes later Trunks was done and the two were heading down to the dining hall again.

Trunks really was growing concerned, he spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on with Gohan, and why Gohan didn't want to tell him. He had been hoping that he'd be able to point those bruises out to Gohan in the shower today and get some answers… But Gohan managed to avoid the scenario. If nothing happened soon he'd have no choice but to simply confront him on the issue.

Trunks was lost so much in thought that he almost didn't notice when Rowdy and Haru joined them this time.

"I wonder if that's another cool Saiyan Power, to just leave to another world inside your own mind and not pay attention to anything going on in real life," Haru waved his hand in front of Trunks' face to finally make him respond.

"Sorry," Trunks grinned a little sheepishly and sat down to eat with the others.

After dinner, the four of them wondered around the complex hallways just talking amongst themselves. Haru looked back over at Gohan, "You know Gohan there's something I've been meaning to ask you," he and Gohan started walking a bit ahead of the group not realizing they'd left their other two companions out of earshot.

Rowdy fell back so he was pretty much walking side by side with Trunks. He didn't say anything but Trunks could tell he wanted to. Rowdy made this humming noise like he was about to talk but didn't. Trunks could tell he was feeling a bit uncomfortable for some reason.

"What is it?" Trunks finally asked him hoping to break the silence.

Rowdy gave an awkward look to Trunks then sighed, "OK Trunks… forgive me if I'm totally wrong or something but I have to ask you… Are you and Gohan… ummm…"

It was Trunks turn to look a little awkward, "Are we?"

"Well… Are you two like… together?" Rowdy was really pushing his courage, Trunks could tell, so he decided to be upfront with him and hope the kid understood how things were.

"Rowdy… well yes, we are." There he said it.

Rowdy nodded, "Have you guys like… fucked or anything?"

Trunks couldn't help but laugh and hope no one heard, Rowdy blushed, "That's putting it delicately," Trunks laughed a little harder before calming down enough to answer, "But yes, we have."

Rowdy smiled and nodded, "OK well listen, and just promise you won't be mad OK?" Trunks perked up and gave Rowdy a funny look, "It's nothing bad!"

"OK go ahead," Trunks urged him to go through with it.

"Well… OK you see… Haru and I are the same way as you and Gohan you see…" Rowdy stammered nervously. Trunks nodded now fully understanding how these two particularly shared a deep bond, "I already talked to Haru about this and he's OK with it, but I need to ask you."

Trunks looked oddly down at Rowdy kind of wishing he could get to the point, but understanding this wasn't easy for him whatever it was, "Go on, what do you want to ask me?"

Rowdy sighed, "Iwanttohavesexwithgohan." He said so fast Trunks barely understood him and almost fell over.

Trunks did his best to not make the kid feel uncomfortable; "You want to have sex with Gohan?" he made sure to clarify just to be sure.

Rowdy nodded, "You see we've been friends for a long time, but I've only ever done something kinda sexual with him once, and since then I've thought about what it would be like to do it with him and just fantasizing about him all around."

Trunks rubbed his forehead, he thought this situation was actually pretty funny, before he could say anything to reply Rowdy added in "Youcanwatch!"

For a second time Trunks' eyes widened and he about fell over. Rowdy thought Trunks' reply was going to be no for sure but Trunks turned his face up towards his again, "Listen…" Trunks tried to think of how to word this to come out right, "if you and Gohan want to have a little fun, that's fine with me, I mean you two have been friends for a long time and it's OK for friends to play with each other if you know what I mean."

Rowdy lit up and was about to say something before Trunks continued, "And on your other offer, just let me know when and where and I'll be there."

Rowdy grinned evilly, "How about tonight?"

"A little anxious huh?" Trunks chuckled.

Rowdy nodded quickly, "I've been wanting to for a while!"

Trunks thought to himself, "OK, then how about once we all get done here we head back to my room?"

Rowdy licked his lip and nodded, "OK."

The four of them walked around for a bit longer, and ended their outing with a few games of pool at the recreational area. After the first game, Rowdy and Haru had to make Gohan and Trunks promise not to cheat with their powers again. They had a lot of fun for a while longer and decided it was about time to turn in for the night.

Walking back down the hall, Gohan stretched and turned and noticed Rowdy looking at him with a strange wicked smile, "What?" he asked him.

Rowdy shook his head, "Nothing."

Trunks noticed and grinned to himself. They got to his front door and he entered the code to open it. As the door opened all four of them walked in and Gohan was feeling a little confused.

"Is something going on?" Gohan asked the bunch of them.

"Come on!" Rowdy grabbed Gohan's hand and dragged him into the bedroom.

"What is it?" Gohan still just wasn't grasping what was going on around here.

Rowdy sat Gohan down on Trunks' bed, "Guess what!"

"What?" Before Gohan's mouth closed, Rowdy moved in and kissed Gohan's lips. Gohan's eyes shot wide then he looked at Rowdy confused when they separated. He then saw Trunks and Haru drag a couple of chairs in from the living room and sit down facing the bed.

"You know Gohan, I'd been hoping for a long time that someday you would join in with me and Haru at night you know." Gohan took on a look of understanding, and he immediately looked over to Trunks who just smiled at him.

He looked back down at Rowdy who was grinning hopefully up at him waiting for the OK to proceed. Gohan's breathing deepened as his gaze continued to fall on Rowdy, still remaining silent.

"It's been a long time since I first thought about sex with you, but after that night a while back when you came back to the Rogues after we thought for sure you'd been caught and probably killed, we looked over and saw you jerking off in bed and since then I haven't been able to get that image out of my mind."

Trunks couldn't help it and let a laugh escape, but was quickly silenced by the dirty looks he got from both Rowdy and Gohan, "Sorry," he grinned sheepishly. He couldn't help but think how cool it would be to catch Gohan masturbating also.

Rowdy turned to look back up Gohan again and tried to think of how to finish what he had to say. What Trunks had told him earlier popped into his mind, "So what do you think Gohan? Do you want to play?"

(Scene Removed)

Gohan, Rowdy, and Haru finally all passed out exhausted on the bed. Trunks looked over them all and smiled. This night had turned into something much more intense than he had thought, but he didn't regret it at all. It was the most fun he'd had… ever… But all of this was threatened… Time was running out… and he couldn't allow himself the luxury of falling asleep with his friends.

Trunks dressed and headed for the gravity room. Just about everyone in the whole complex was asleep or off doing other things at this hour. Trunks took a look at the machine inside and sighed. He knew Gohan would be upset with him for training so much without him… but he had made that promise after all. Setting the machine to two hundred times gravity, Trunks began his workout.

Two hours went by of lifting weights and cycling through full body work outs. Trunks wiped the sweat from his brow and shut off the machine. He stretched tall before pulling up the machine's usage log and deleting the entry from it, just as he'd been doing for a while now.

Trunks eyes widened as a new thought entered his head. He stared at the console for a moment just from the shock of the notion.

"He wouldn't know how to do that… would he?" Trunks scratched his head thinking about how clever of a boy he knew Gohan was. Deciding to put the issue to rest, Trunks set to work on restoring the deleted entries from the gravity chambers.

He had an idea that he should find about thirty of his entries recently deleted in the system. To his shock the system returned over sixty deleted entries. Starting from the oldest, Trunks examined them. His mouth dropped as he watched the gravity intensify steadily from one hundred to three hundred and fifty times normal gravity. He sank against the wall knowing only one person could possibly be pushing himself that hard… and finally piecing together all the strange things that had been happening… Gohan's strange injuries… The deep hidden power well… It was all stemming from this…

Trunks started laughing to himself realizing he thought himself so clever putting in extra training time and not realizing Gohan was putting in even more early in the morning while he was too passed out to miss him.

"That little…" Trunks had to think this through carefully, and figure out how to let Gohan know he'd caught him without pushing the wrong buttons… of course this discovery also revealed that Gohan was training a hundred and fifty gravity levels higher than he was which would mean… Gohan was getting fucking strong…

It was all so much to take in. Trunks wasn't sure why Gohan would even do this… did he not trust him? Did he consider him weak? Trunks realized he shouldn't think like that as he had been doing the same thing with protecting his mate being his sole driving force. That's when it snapped. Trunks could feel it, as if Gohan's emotions were still lingering inside the training room. He felt the need to protect Trunks… but also the need to protect everyone. To protect his friends with whom he was sleeping comfortably beside. To protect all the people he knows on the outside. To make up for the failure to protect his family in the past…

A tear fell from Trunks' face. Somehow he knew this all to be true. Gohan was trying to carry the burden of the world on him. He needed to be shown that he wasn't alone…

Gohan had woken up at his usual training hour of four in the morning and managed to slip out of bed without waking anyone. He felt more tired than usual, but the memories of the night before just spurred his determination forward. Without looking back he dressed and marched to the gravity room.

All the lights were turned off as Gohan stepped into the room. The red glow of the keypad was the only thing Gohan had besides memory to guide him through the chamber. Gohan pressed a few keys flickering on the lights and turned to shut the door.

Gohan stopped dead cold as leaning against the wall by the door with his arms crossed was Trunks. "Good morning Gohan" he said calmly.

"Trunks… Ummm… hi?" Gohan stammered.

Trunks sighed, and pushed off the wall. He slowly walked across the room and noticed the look on Gohan's face which was amass of confusion and slight fear. Once Trunks was close enough, he wrapped his arms around Gohan and pulled him into a tight hug.

Gohan's confusion only intensified, even if the fear diminished a little. "Trunks… What are you… ow!" Gohan shouted as the tender spot on his side was poked.

Trunks smiled down at him, "I know what you've been doing." Gohan gulped in anticipation, "We've both been a couple of idiots you know?"

Gohan cocked his head to the side, "Huh?"

"Because here we are breaking ourselves to pieces for each other, not stopping to realize we're in this together," Trunks spoke softly but seriously.

"What do you…"

"I know before I said a lot about being careful and taking it easy… but neither of us listened and we both ended up putting ourselves through a lot more risk than necessary by trying to hide it. If we're to find out where our limits really are Gohan… we need to do it together. Be there for each other. What I mean is… Things are desperate and we both realize that so no more kidding around. No more putting up fronts and holding back during the day only to kill ourselves at night. We're in this together, all… or nothing."

Gohan realized what Trunks was talking about and figured out what Trunks was doing as well. "Yeah!" Trunks held out his arm and Gohan repeated the gesture, clutching Trunks hand tightly the two shook making a warrior's promise.

"We'll do this, together."

The day dragged on, and old men seemed to never rest anymore. Especially not one particular old scientist who fiddled away uncaring of the hour doing everything he could think of to improve his design. It was almost perfected… the ultimate procedure of enhancing cellular structure with cybernetic fortification. Thanks in part to the acquisition of valuable Saiyan DNA, unfathomable android power was in arm's reach. As far as Dr. Gero was concerned, it was ready to be tested.

A steady tapping broke Dr. Gero from his schematics as someone dared to knock on his private lab's door. Cursing under his breath, Dr. Gero opened the door and found a young black haired human standing in front of his lab.

"I'm VERY busy right now, so this better be good!" Gero demanded.

"I'm sorry sir," the boy bowed quickly in apology but didn't appear the least bit frightened of the man's outbreak, "I overheard some of the other scientists talking that you're working on procedures to make people stronger… much stronger than even the battle suits…"

Dr. Gero looked around before pulling the boy into his lab and shutting the door, "Indeed I am… Now… would I be correct in assuming this is something desirable to you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good… Now understand the way I work is once started… there is no going back… the change is absolute and very permanent."

"That's fine… Just please… Give me the power I need to help my friends and make a difference!"

Dr. Gero nodded, "Very well, what is your name?"

"Ashuta… Ashuta Haru…"

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End Chapter

OK wow… This chapter puts most of the other chapters to shame in terms of length… (unless you're reading the cut version again) I really wasn't intending on dragging it out so long… But I was writing this mostly late at night working on very little caffeine, and things happened, and I got emotional, and tried pushing that onto the characters… I think a lot of the dialogue sucked, but I think I at least got the point across.

Plenty of action lies ahead so I hope everyone is ready for the story to heat up!

Till next time!


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